Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau state, says his imprisonment for N1.126bn fraud was “politically motivated”.
He spoke in an interview on Channels Television’s Newsnight,
a pre-recorded show which airs every Monday.
Dariye was governor of Plateau between 1999 and 2007.
In 2007, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
charged Dariye over allegations of diverting N1.126 billion from the Plateau
government’s ecological fund.
In June 2018, Adebukola Banjoko, judge of a federal capital
territory (FCT) high court, sentenced Dariye to 14 years imprisonment.
A court of appeal in Abuja, in November 2018, reduced the
sentence to 10 years.
The supreme court also affirmed the conviction and the jail
term of the appeal court in March 2021.
Speaking on the development, the former Plateau governor
said as a chartered accountant, he would not have stolen in that manner.
“My issue was political in the sense that the same charge
was taken to Kaduna high court, Justice Liman dismissed that case,” he said in
the interview.
“They were not happy, they carried the same document to the
Plateau state house of assembly and the whole amount we are talking about is
N1.1 billion.
“The judge asked if Mr Dariye wanted to convert money into
his personal use, will he use his letterhead and write the bank ‘Pls distribute
as follows?’
“I am a chartered
accountant and I wouldn’t have been that foolish. If I wanted to steal, I would
have lodged the money in commission and turnover but that never happened.
“But because it was politically motivated, the other vehicle
of prosecution – EFCC – became the only veritable tool. I don’t think there was
any sense of justice but I leave the rest to God. Time will tell.”
In April, the council of state meeting presided over by
President Muhammadu Buhari pardoned Dariye and Jolly Nyame, former Taraba
governor.
The former governors were granted pardons on the grounds of age and ill health.
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