Alleged Looted State Funds: Sen Jonah Jang Spend Days In EFCC Custody

Yakubu Busari

 

Former Governor of Plateau State, Sen Jonah Jang has been   detained several days inside the EFCC cell for alleged misappropriation public funds running into billions.

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, May 7, 2017 accused him of 12-count charges and other fraud charge against Senator Jang, for alleged misappropriation of over N6.3billion two months to the end of his tenure as governor in 2015.

 

Jang is also said to have abused his office as the governor by collecting money to the tune of N4.3 billion from the state coffers through the cashier in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.

 

According to the charges, Jang allegedly embezzled some special funds released to the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

 

In one of the counts, the former Governor, among other things, pocketed N2 billion released by the CBN for disbursement to small and medium enterprises in the state under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Funds, MSMEDF, just a month before the expiration of his tenure in April 2015.

 

Sequel to the arrest of the immediate past Governor of Plateau State and Senator representing Plateau North, Jonah Jang by by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the opposition PDP in the State has said the refusal of the anti-graft agency to grant bail to the lawmaker is part of the ruling APC’s plan to clamp down on the opposition.

 

Reacting to his arrest, the Plateau State Chairman of PDP,  Hon. Damishi Sango while addressing journalists at the Party Secretariat in Jos condemned the arrest.

 

Sango said, “while the appropriate agencies of government are at liberty to discharge their statutory and constitutional mandates, due diligence, respect for due process and the rule of law must be followed.