Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting at Gudu, on Tuesday, June 12, has convicted and sentenced Senator Joshua Dariye, serving Senator representing Plateau Central , who is also a former governor of Plateau state between 1999 to 2007, to 14 years imprisonment for criminal breach of trust and 2 years imprisonment for diverting public funds to the tune of N1.126billion.
The Senator was found guilty on 15 out of the 23-count criminal charge, preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
According to Justice Banjoko, the defendant, being a public officer and administrator of the state converted and diverted ecological funds the Federal Government released to Plateau State in 2001, for his personal use. He also criminally misappropriated funds and acted in violent breach of public trust and his oath of office.
He was however discharged and acquitted on 8-count which the Judge said was not sustained with sufficient evidence.
The Defendant, in a plea of allocutus made through his lawyer, Mr. Paul Erokoro, SAN, described himself as a victim of circumstance and later urged the court to temper justice with mercy, adding that he was deceived by his bank.
Erokoro revealed that his client who he said served his state diligently, became tainted owing to pervasive corruption in the public service. He pleaded that his client had suffered enough, adding that his case was different from that of ex-governor of Taraba State, Rev. Jolly Nyame who was jailed 14years for stealing public funds.
Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, EFCC’s lawyer, however in his argument urged the court to impose the maximum sanction, accusing Dariye of failing to show any remorse for the crime he committed.
The EFCC lawyer said, “My lord should consider the conduct of the defendant who has stalled his trial since June 2007. Is he remorseful about what he has done? He is not! He has not shown any remorse. He still believes that he has not done anything wrong.
“The prisons are congested with the poor and those that cannot afford their daily meal, but the big men are not there!
The EFCC's lawyer urged the court to give a sentence capable of serving as a deterrent to other public office holders.
Irked by the submission, Dariye challenged EFCC’s lawyer, accusing him of deliberately inciting the court to take severe decision against him.
“You are not God! Your name is Jacob, as a Christian you should have mercy! You cannot predict my state of mind. Let’s not spoil tomorrow because of today. Can you raise your hand to swear there is a saint in Nigeria?”, Dariye bellowed from the dock.
In her verdict, Justice Banjoko said she was not persuaded by Dariye’s claim of being a victim.
Decrying what she termed as “brazen act of systematic looting” while the defendant held sway as the defendant, the Judge noted that Dariye was at a point, richer than his state.
While the court sentenced the defendant to 2years imprisonment on each of the counts bordering on misappropriation, he was handed 14 years for the counts involving criminal breach of trust.
The court held that the sentence would run concurrently, even as it directed EFCC to return all the funds it recovered in the course of the investigation into the coffers of Taraba State.
The court had earlier in the judgment that lasted over six hours, noted that following a Mutual Legal Assistance Request from the Metropolitan Police in London, it was uncovered that Dariye sequentially laundered funds from Nigeria into National West Ministers Bank in the United Kingdom, using an account he opened in the name of a fictitious firm.
It observed that a former detective with the Met Police, Mr. Peter Clarke who testified as the ninth prosecution witness, PW-9, during the trial, disclosed that Dariye wired funds from an account the fictitious firm- Ebenezer Rednar Ventures- operated with All States Trust Bank in Nigeria, into nine separate accounts he opened at Barclays Bank in London.
Clarke who led a team of Met police officers that arrested Dariye on September 28, 2004, had informed the court that a warrant of arrest that was issued against the ex-governor after he jumped bail in London and ran back to Nigeria to escape being prosecuted on money laundering charges, was still valid.
Justice Banjoko held that evidence before the court confirmed huge outflow of funds from the Plateau State treasury, into accounts Dariye operated with All States Bank and Lion Bank (now Diamond Bank), using the name of the fictitious firm.
Describing circumstances that surrounded the opening of the accounts as suspicious, as no picture was used in the opening mandate, the court stressed that signature of the ex-governor appeared in four places on the account opening documents.
It noted that admittance by All States Bank that it granted the defendant waiver to operate the account without the required mandate picture, led to prosecution and conviction of some of its key officials.
Justice Banjoko held that forensic analysis confirmed that signatures on the account operated in the name of Ebenezer Rednar Ventures belonged to Dariye.
She said the account was opened on December 19, 1999, without proper documentation and with false and untraceable address, observing that Dariye had in his statement before the London Police and the EFCC, admitted that Ebenezer is the name of one of his children.
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