Supreme Court upholds 10-year sentence handed to ex-governor Joshua Dariye

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the 10-year jail term handed to a former Plateau governor Joshua Dariye following his conviction on the offence of criminal breach of trust.

Justice Mary Odili led a five-man panel of the court in the unanimous ruling.

The apex court, however, quashed the one-year sentence imposed on him by the Court of Appeal in relation to the offence of criminal misappropriation.

Dariye had in his appeal prayed the Supreme Court to upturn the November 16, 2018 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which convicted him and sentenced him to 10 years for diverting public funds estimated at N1.162billion while he was governor.

A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Stephen Adah had upheld an earlier judgement by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) delivered on June 12, 2018.

The trial court convicted Dariye on 15 counts relating to the offences of criminal breach of trust and criminal misappropriation, contained in the 23-count charge on which he was tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Appeal Court however faulted the trial court for convicting Dariye on counts 12 and 23, which it said the prosecution did not prove.

It also faulted the trial court for imposing the maximum sentences on both offences of criminal breach of trust and criminal misappropriation.

The Appeal Court then reduced the 14-year sentence for the offence of criminal breach of trust to 10 years, and reduced the two-year sentence for criminal misappropriation to one year.