My imprisonment for corruption politically motivated – Dariye

Eric Patrick

Ex-Plateau State Governor, Senator Joshua Dariye, has said his conviction on corruption charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was politically motivated.

He stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s Newsnight, a pre-recorded show which airs every Monday.

“My issue was political in the sense that the same charge was taken to Kaduna High Court, Justice Liman dismissed that case,” he said.

“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.”

On the exact money missing, the ex-governor put the figure at just N4 million, describing the sum as the commission on turnover.

According to the former Plateau governor, he would have laundered the money in commission and turnover if he wanted to steal.

He added, “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.

On Tuesday, June 12, 2018, Joshua Dariye was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Gudu, Abuja. Dariye was charged with criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of funds (N1.6bn) while he was the governor of Plateau State.

Dariye, who was the governor of Plateau State from 1999 to 2007, was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and convicted by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the FCT High Court for embezzling public funds.

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