CASE NUMBER 10880:

JOSHUA DARIYE

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Alleged Perpetrators(s)

Joshua Chibi Dariye

Location (Town / State)

Bokkos, Plateau

Date of Event

12 Jun 2018

Date of republication

12 June every year

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Case Summary

The former Governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye was convicted and sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment by a High Court of the FCT on the 12th June 2018. He was facing trial for the offence of diverting public funds to the tune of N1.126 Billion.

Full story

Joshua Dariye, who was the Governor of Plateau State from 1999 to 2007 and the current Senator representing Plateau Central, was found guilty on 15 out of the 23-count criminal charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against him. He was arraigned before Hon. Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory who is notorious for placing former governors behind long term bars.

Dariye’s waterloo began when a Mutual Legal Assistance Request from the Metropolitan Police in London, revealed that Dariye sequentially laundered funds from Nigeria into National West Ministers Bank in the United Kingdom, using an account he opened in the name of a fictitious firm; Ebenezer Rednar Ventures. Then one Christopher McQuiney was arrested with 11, 500.00 pounds concealed in a brief case. McQuiney, while in detention at a North East London Police Station confessed that the money belonged to his boss, Dariye. The Metropolitan Police Officers then arrested Joshua Dariye who was with his personal assistant, Christabel Bentu, in a hotel in London on 28th September, 2004. However, the ex-governor jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria to avoid being prosecuted by the London authorities.

Dariye’s trial started on the 13th July, 2007 when he was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on 23 count charges bordering on money laundering and other corruption charges alleged to have belonged to the Plateau State Government. The total value of money alleged to have been embezzled by the former governor was estimated at 1.126 Billion Naira which was primarily meant to be used as ecological funds but diverted to the People’s Democratic Party.

The prosecution invited a former Detective with the Metropolitan Police, Mr. Peter Clarke to testify at the trial. Mr. Clarke revealed how Dariye had wired funds from an account the fictitious Ebenezer Rednar Ventures into nine separate accounts he opened at Barclays Bank in London. The EFCC also adduced further evidence to show how Dariye had transferred huge sums of funds from the Plateau State treasury, into accounts Dariye operated with All States Bank and Lion Bank (now Diamond Bank), using the name of his fictitious firm. Although it was admitted that there were huge irregularities surrounding the manner in which the accounts with All States Bank were opened (for instance, there was a waiver on the requirement for mandate photograph to be attached to the account), which led to the prosecution and subsequent conviction of some of its key officials. The EFCC were however able to adduce forensic evidence to match Dariye’s signature with that of the account operated in the name of Ebenezer Rednar Ventures. The account was opened using fictitious names and addresses on December 19, 1999 when Dariye was just seven months into his tenure as the governor of Plateau State. Wrong account opening form were used, details were falsified, all in a bid to conceal the identity of the true owner of the account.

The EFCC further adduced evidence to show how Dariye had in two applications dated 7th May 7th June, 2001, used Plateau State to apply for a total of N3 Billion from the ecological fund, of which only about N1 Billion was approved for him. Dariye had personally collected this Cheque from the Central Bank of Nigeria on the 12th July, 2001. The fund which was meant for reclamation and re-channelization, was diverted into different private accounts by the defendant. The sum of N280 Million from the fund was shared to beneficiaries, including the former Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ibrahim Mantu who received N10 Million, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who allegedly received N100m through his firm, Marine Float, which was meant to be for the North East wing of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Dariye also donated N100 Million each to the South West and South East wings of the PDP on 20th July 2001, as well as N66 Million to the Plateau State chapter of the party which was to be shared to all the 274 wards in the state.

Dariye also used part of the loot to purchase a property in London worth N250 Million in September 2001 through the Chairman of Pinnacle Communications. Dariye was also alleged to have bribed one Dr. Nkuma who was a Permanent Secretary at the Ecological fund office with N80 Million to facilitate the release of the fund to him.
The EFCC called a total of 10 witnesses to testify before the court, after which it closed its case on the 6th June, 2016. Dariye then opened his defence on 10th June, 2016 and called a total of 16 witnesses to defend the charge against him. The defendant closed his case on the 10th October 2017. Written addresses were adopted on the 7th December, 2017.

In a six hour judgment delivered by the Hon. Justice of the FCT on the 12th June, 2018, the court noted that of the total ecological fund worth N1 Billion which was disbursed to him, only N550 Million was paid into the coffers of Plateau State following a hand written instruction the defendant gave to All States Trust Bank which he used to clear the cheque from CBN. The ruling judge found Dariye guilty on 15 of the counts preferred against him. Nevertheless, the court discharged and acquitted the ex-governor on 8-counts which it said was not sustained with sufficient evidence.

Before his sentence was announced out by the trial judge, Dariye pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, describing himself as a victim of circumstance. In the plea of allocutus made through his lawyer, Dariye blamed his bank whom he alleged to have deceived him. He insisted that he said served his state diligently, and only became tainted owing to pervasive corruption in the public service. This submission infuriated the prosecution lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, who urged the court to impose the maximum sanction, accusing Dariye of failing to show any remorse for the crime he committed. Mr. Rotimi Jacobs emphasized that the prisons are congested with the poor and those that cannot afford their daily meal, but the big men are not there! He then urged the court to give a sentence capable of serving as a deterrent to other public office holders,, to which Dariye uttered these famous words from the docks:

“You are not God! Your name is Jacob, as a Christian you should have mercy! You cannot predict my state of mind. Let’s not spoil tomorrow because of today. Can you raise your hand to swear there is a saint in Nigeria?”


The trial judge who was unmoved by Dariye’s rhetoric sentenced the defendant to 2 years imprisonment on each of the counts bordering on misappropriation, in addition to 14 years imprisonment for the counts involving criminal breach of trust. The court further held that the sentences would running concurrently, implying that the former governor is to spend fourteen years cooling off behind bars. The court further directed the EFCC to return all the funds it recovered in the course of the investigation into the coffers of Taraba State.

The tears streaming down the former governor's face as the trial judge read the sentence should serve as a strong deterrence to other governors and public officers who are nursing the ambition of misappropriating public funds.

External links/URLs

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/06/n1-126bn-fraud-court-sentences-ex-gov-dariye-14-years-imprisonment/

https://www.channelstv.com/2018/06/12/alleged-money-laundering-court-finds-ex-plateau-governor-dariye-guilty-on-15-count/

https://efccniger

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