Bala James Ngilari

Bala James Ngilari (b. 4 December 1952, Lassa, Borno State; sometimes spelled "Nggilari") is a Nigerian lawyer (Ahmadu Bello University LL.B.; Nigerian Law School BL) and politician who served briefly as Governor of Adamawa State on the PDP platform from 8 October 2014 to 29 May 2015, completing the remainder of Murtala Nyako's term after Nyako's 15 July 2014 impeachment and the three-month Fintiri acting-period. Previously Deputy Governor under Nyako (29 April 2008 – 15 July 2014, with a brief 2007–2008 hiatus). On 6 March 2017, the Yola High Court (Justice Nathan Musa) convicted Ngilari on a five-count charge of violating Nigeria's Public Procurement Act in the irregular award of 25 official vehicles (allegedly ~₦167 million) and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment, making him the first Nigerian former governor to be jailed for corruption (alongside the contemporary Buhari-era convictions of Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame). In July 2017, the Court of Appeal, Yola Division, **set aside the conviction**, discharged and acquitted Ngilari, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The EFCC publicly announced intent to appeal to the Supreme Court (BusinessDay), but no subsequent Supreme Court ruling is recorded in the corpus. Schema-strict status is **`dismissed`** (acquittal stands). Recommend `dismissed` archive entry with the historical-significance footnote that he was the first such gubernatorial conviction (since vacated) and the editorial note that the EFCC's Supreme Court appeal status should be tracked. After his acquittal Ngilari publicly declared interest in joining the APC.