Supreme Court upholds 10-year sentence of Joshua Dariye
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the 10-year imprisonment imposed on former Plateau State Governor, Joshua Dariye, upon his conviction for criminal breach of trust.
A five-man panel of the court, led by Justice Mary Odili, in a unanimous judgment, upheld Dariye’s appeal in part, by quashing the one-year sentence imposed on him by the Court of Appeal in relation to the offence of criminal misappropriation.
The Supreme Court upheld Dariye’s concurrent conviction and sentence by the trial court and the Court of Appeal on the offence of criminal breach of trust.
Justice Ejembi Eko prepared the lead judgment,which was read on Friday by Justice Helen Ogunwumiju.
Other members of the panel include Lawal Garba, Samuel Oseji and Tijani Abubakar.
The court, however, quashed his conviction and sentence 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 the Governor.
A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Stephen Adah, in its decision, upheld an earlier judgement by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), delivered on June 12, 2018.
