Former Governor of Plateau State and serving
senator, Joshua Dariye, wept today, after a High Court in Abuja, sentenced him
to 14 years’ imprisonment on charges of criminal
breach of trust and
misappropriation of over N1.16bn belonging to the state.
“Be merciful. You are a Christian, your name is
Jacob,” Mr Dariye had told the judge before his sentencing. However, Justice
Adebukola Banjoko convicted and sentenced him on 15 out the 23 counts preferred
against him.
-Punchng
A High Court of Federal Capital Territory High
Court sitting at Gudu, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced the former Governor
of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye to 14 years imprisonment for diverting public
funds to the tune of N1.126billion. Senator Joshua Dariye Dariye who was
governor of Plateau State from 1999 to 2007 and the current Senator
representing Plateau Central, was found guilty on 15 out of the 23-count criminal
charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against
him.
The court said it was satisfied that the
defendant, being a public officer that had full dominion and control of
ecological funds the Federal Government released to Plateau State in 2001,
converted and diverted same for his personal use. It held that the ex-governor
criminally misappropriated funds and acted in violent breach of public trust
and his oath of office. Nevertheless, the court discharged and acquitted the ex-governor
on 8-counts which it said was not sustained with sufficient evidence.
Dariye
had before his sentence was announced by trial Justice Adebukola Banjoko,
pleaded the court to temper justice with mercy, describing himself as a victim
of circumstance. In a plea of allocutus he made through his lawyer, Mr. Paul
Erokoro, SAN, Dariye said he was deceived by his bank. Erokoro insisted that
his client who he said served his state diligently, became tainted owing to
pervasive corruption in the public service. “This man has suffered. We urge my
lord to temper justice with mercy”, Erokoro pleaded, adding that case of his
client was different from that of ex-governor of Taraba State, Rev. Jolly Nyame
who was jailed 14years for stealing public funds. However, EFCC’s lawyer, Mr.
Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, urged the court to impose the maximum sanction, accusing
Dariye of failing to show any remorse for the crime he committed. “My lord
should consider the conduct of the defendant who has stalled his trial since
June 2007. Is he remorseful about what he has done? He is not! He has not shown
any remorse. He still believes that he has not done anything wrong.
“The prisons are congested with the poor
and those that cannot afford their daily meal, but the big men are not there!”.
Jacob’s urged the court to give a sentence capable of serving as a deterrent to
other public office holders. Irked by the submission, Dariye challenged EFCC’s
lawyer, accusing him of deliberately inciting the court to take severe decision
against him. “You are not God! Your name is Jacob, as a Christian you should
have mercy! You cannot predict my state of mind. Let’s not spoil tomorrow
because of today. Can you raise your hand to swear there is a saint in
Nigeria?”, Dariye bellowed from the dock. In her verdict, Justice Banjoko said
she was not persuaded by Dariye’s claim of being a victim. Decrying what she
termed as “brazen act of systematic looting” while the defendant held sway as
the defendant, the Judge noted that Dariye was at a point, richer than his
state.
While the court sentenced the defendant to 2years imprisonment on each
of the counts bordering on misappropriation, he was handed 14 years for the
counts involving criminal breach of trust. The court held that the sentence
would run concurrently, even as it directed EFCC to return all the funds it
recovered in the course of the investigation into the coffers of Taraba State.
The court had earlier in the judgment that lasted over six hours, noted that
following a Mutual Legal Assistance Request from the Metropolitan Police in
London, it was uncovered that Dariye sequentially laundered funds from Nigeria
into National West Ministers Bank in the United Kingdom, using an account he
opened in the name of a fictitious firm. It observed that a former detective
with the Met Police, Mr. Peter Clarke who testified as the ninth prosecution
witness, PW-9, during the trial, disclosed that Dariye wired funds from an
account the fictitious firm- Ebenezer Rednar Ventures- operated with All States
Trust
Bank in Nigeria, into nine separate accounts he opened at Barclays Bank
in London. Clarke who led a team of Met police officers that arrested Dariye on
September 28, 2004, had informed the court that a warrant of arrest that was
issued against the ex-governor after he jumped bail in London and ran back to
Nigeria to escape being prosecuted on money laundering charges, was still
valid. Justice Banjoko held that evidence before the court confirmed huge
outflow of funds from the Plateau State treasury, into accounts Dariye operated
with All States Bank and Lion Bank (now Diamond Bank), using the name of the
fictitious firm.
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