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Appeal Court reduces Dariye's 14-year prison sentence for being a first time offender

Samson Toromade

November 16, 2018 12:05 PM

The court has ruled that a 14-year sentence was too much for the governor since it was his first crime.

Joshua Dariye

The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has reduced the jail term of former Plateau State governor, Joshua Dariye, from the initial 14 years to 10 years.

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The three-man panel handed down the judgement on Friday, November 16, 2018, ruling that the maximum sentence of 14 years was excessive especially because the former governor was a first-time offender.

The former governor was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment by the Federal Capital Territory High Court, led by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, on June 12, 2018, after he was found guilty of criminal breach of trust and diverting N1.162 billion state ecological funds while he was governor between 1999 and 2007. He was convicted on 15 out the 23 counts preferred against him.

During its Friday ruling, the Appeal Court said the lower court erred in law when it sentenced Dariye excessively even though the conviction was deemed correct.

The court reduced the sentence of 14 years for the breach of trust to 10 years and the conviction for the diversion was reduced from two years to one. The sentences will run concurrently.