Ex-Plateau governor, Joshua Dariye, bags 14-year jail term for corruption

…begs for mercy

Former Plateau State governor, Mr. Joshua Dariye, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.

He was found guilty of diverting N1.162 billion state ecological funds while he was governor between 1999 and 2007.

He was first arraigned on a 23-count charge for the offence in 2007.

A Federal Capital Territory High Court, led by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, sentenced Dariye to two years in prison for criminal breach of trust and 14 years for criminal misappropriation of funds.

The sentences are to run concurrently. The court gave no option of fine.

Dariye is currently the senator representing Plateau West.

Convicted former governor of Plateau State, Mr. Joshua Dariye, has asked the prosecution to tamper justice with mercy.

After reading through the judgement, the judge, Adebukola Banjoko gave the lawyers room to speak for their clients. Mr Dariye’s lawyer, Paul Erokoro, asked the court to consider the fact that his client “was ignorant of the offence” at the time it was committed.

According to Mr Erokoro, Mr Dariye was a victim of ”the long years of military administration and should be viewed as a victim because he was ignorant of financial fraud and most of their components”.

Mr Erokoro a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, claimed his client, who is a chartered accountant, was ignorant of the offence.

Responding, Mr Jacobs drew the attention of the court to the many years of legal battle embarked upon by the defendant.

As he was speaking, Mr Dariye suddenly stood up and asked the prosecution lawyer to be merciful.

“Be merciful. You are a Christian, your name is Jacob,” Mr Dariye said.

The court adjourned briefly before the sentence was announced.