N1.162bn fraud: Court jails ex-Plateau Gov Dariye 14 years

Few weeks after a former Taraba state Governor, Rev. Jolly Nyame, was jailed 14 years for fraud, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has also jailed a former Plateau state Governor, Joshua Dariye, for fraud and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Dariye was charged for allegedly diverting N1. 161.9 billion, while he served as governor of the Northcentral state.
He was brought to court on a 23-count charge for the alleged offence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2007.
Although Dariye’s lawyer, Kanu Agabi, questioned the authenticity of evidence adduced in court against his client, the court said the evidences clearly indicate a case of diversion.
The judge, Adebukola Banjoko, found him guilty of diverting funds to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state among other groups.
Mrs. Banjoko, delivering thejudgement, found Dariye guilty of counts 1, 2, 4, and 7. Dariye had before the ruling, asked the prosecution lawyer to be merciful.
“Be merciful.
You are a Christian, your name is Jacob,” he begged.
The counts relate to the diversion of N80 million to the PDP, N100 million to a company, Marine flow and other sums through the All States Bank