Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau state, has asked
the supreme court to nullify his conviction or reduce the 10-year jail sentence
he was given for diverting public funds.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had
charged Dariye to court in 2007, accusing him of diverting N1.126 billion from
Plateau government’s ecological fund.
In June 2018, Adebukola Banjoko, judge of a federal capital
territory (FCT) high court in Gudu, sentenced Dariye to 14 years imprisonment
having found him guilty on 15 out the 23 counts preferred against him.
A court of appeal on November 16, 2018, reduced the jail
term by four years after the former governor had appealed his conviction.
But still dissatisfied with the decision of the court of
appeal, Dariye approached the supreme court seeking to void his conviction.
At the court hearing on Thursday, Kanu Agabi, Dariye’s
counsel, urged the court to show mercy, adding that his client’s conviction was
speculative.
“Allow this appeal and set aside the conviction of the
appellant,” Agabi said
“Here is a man sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. 10 years
is more than a lifetime for some people. You should show mercy.
“Reduce the sentence substantially, I beg you.”
However, Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the EFCC, urged the court
to disallow the appeal.
“We urge your lordships to dismiss this appeal and uphold
the concurrent findings of the two lower courts,” he said.
He argued that a public servant was not better than the
common man in the eyes of the law.
“As for the sentence passed, it has been reduced to 10
years. That he is a public servant does not mean he should go free,” Jacobs
stated.
A five-man panel of the apex court led by Mary Odili has
fixed March 21, 2021, for judgment.
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