Court reduces 14-year jail term of former Governor Dariye 

By Eje Peter, 

A Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja Friday reduced the jail term of former Plateau state governor Joshua Dariye from 14 years to 10 years.

Dariye was charged to court on a 23-count charge in 2007 for the alleged offence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He was convicted by Justice Adebukola Banjoko on 15 out of the 23 counts on June 12 and sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Federal high court in Abuja.

However, the appeal court said while the conviction was right, the former governor should have been jailed for 10 years.

The court reduced the sentence of 14 years to 10 years for criminal breach of trust while a similar conviction for diversion of N1. 62 billion ecological funds was reduced from two years to one year. The sentences are to run concurrently, as the previous judgement in June, meaning Dariye has now been effectively handed a 10-year jail term.

The appeal court ruled that the lower court erred in law when it sentenced Dariye, a first-time offender, to the maximum 14 years term contained in the charge against him.

According to the court, the sentence was handed down in the season of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which does not allow maximum sentence for first-time offenders.

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