THE former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye has had his jail term reduced from 14 years to 10 years by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
The Appeal Court on Friday heard that Dariye’s conviction was right, but his sentence should have been 10 years.
The 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.
The former governor was sentenced in June to 14 years in prison by the High Court over corruption allegations.
The court therefore 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, like the previous judgement in June, meaning Dariye has now been effectively jailed 10 years.
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.
It would be recalled that High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Gudu, Abuja, presided over by Justice Adebukola Banjoko on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 sentenced Mr Dariye who was a serving senator to 14 years’ imprisonment on charges of criminal breach of trust and criminal appropriation of the state’s funds.
The ex-governor was convicted on 15 out the 23 counts preferred against him in July 2007.