Dariye offered Labour Party senatorial candidate after release from prison

A former governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, may be contesting the Plateau Central senatorial election in 2023 on the platform of the Labour Party (LP).

The Plateau State chapter of the party has reportedly concluded arrangements to receive the former governor from Abuja to pick the party’s senatorial form, according to Daily Trust.

A Labour Party official told the newspaper: “Yes, it is true that he (Dariye) will be running for a Senate seat. We are making arrangements for him to come from Abuja for the senatorial declaration.

“Dariye would spring surprises at the polls because he remained loved by many in the state.

“Dariye’s homecoming has also given a boost to the governorship bid of the party’s governorship candidate, Patrick Dakum, who defected to the Labour Party, after failing to secure the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).”

Dariye served as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor, and defected from the party to contest and win a senatorial seat in 2011 on the platform of LP.

The Federal Government recently released Dariye and a former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, from prison.

The two ex-convicts were released less than four months after they were granted state pardon by the National Council of State (NCS). They were among the 159 convicts pardoned by the NCS led by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2022.

Dariye, who was serving 10 years’ imprisonment for N1.126 billion fraud, was released after spending about four years in prison.

However, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently withdraw the pardon recently granted to the former governors, Dariye and Jolly Nyame, who were serving jail terms for corruption.

The group in a letter dated April 16, 2022, and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare also urged the President to “propose constitutional amendment to the National Assembly to reform the provisions on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy to make the provisions more transparent, and consistent and compatible with Nigeria’s international anti-corruption obligations.”