The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reduced the jail term of the former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye from 14 years to 10 years.
The court, on Friday, held that the maximum sentence of 14 years for the counts was excessive especially because the appellant is a first-time offender.
Justice Stephen Adah who read the unanimous judgment of the three-man panel also quashed the sentence in count 12.
According to the panel, the lower court which had earlier found Dariye not guilty for the charge should not have sentenced him on the charge.
The court also quashed count 23 because the persecution did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the former governor diverted the funds of the state to purchase a house in London.
The court, therefore, reduced the sentences to 10 years for each count which is to run concurrently.
It would be recalled that High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Gudu, Abuja, on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, sentenced 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 running to over N2billion.
