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.
This was stated by the State Chairman of the party, Hon. Damishi Sango while addressing journalists at the Party Secretariat in Jos.
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.
“As a sitting Senator of the Federal Republic, former Governor and Elder Statesman, Senator Jonah David Jang who is presently under the custody of EFCC has been denied bail for more than 48 hours in detention.
“This, we consider a gross violation of his fundamental rights as provided for under the constitution of the Federal Republic.”
“That, we consider this bail denial and unlawful detention of Senator Jang as part of the orchestrated plan of the ruling APC Government to clamp down on the opposition”, he stressed.
The Chairman maintained that, “While we appeal for calm amongst the party faithful, supporters and well wishers, we call on the authorities of the EFCC to as a matter of urgency grant Senator Jang and others being unlawfully detained bail.
“In making this appeal, we are mindful of his health condition and the fact that he is denied access to his lawyers, family and medication”, he advised.
It would be recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, May 7, 2017 preferred a 12-count fraud charge against Senator Jang, for alleged misappropriation of over N6.3billion two months to the end of his tenure as governor in 2015.
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.
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.
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