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Orji Uzor Kalu: Long, Shaky Road to Freedom

Published

4 years ago

May 8, 2020

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

Nothing is more soothing than the breath of freedom, and former Abia State governor and Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, is in a better place to tell, having received a reprieve after five gruesome months as a guest at the Ikoyi Prisons.

On December 5, 2019, a Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced Kalu to 12 years in prison after finding him guilty of 39 counts of N7.2 billion fraud and money laundering.

Kalu was charged alongside Jones Udeogo, the state Director of Finance during his tenure as the governor and his company, Slok Nig. Ltd., was also a defendant in the suit.

While Kalu and his company were convicted on all the 39 counts of the fraud charge, Udeogo was found guilty on 34 counts.

In his ruling on the day, Justice Mohammed Idris apart from sentencing the former governor to 12 years in prison for the N7.65 billion fraud also ordered that Slok Nig. Ltd. should be wound up, and its assets forfeited to the Federal Government. The ex-governor was immediately marched to jail.

However, five months later, and working on a lacuna, Kalu’s lawyers succeeded in getting the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s judgment, rendering null and void the conviction and sentencing.

The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a seven-man panel of justices led by Justice Amina Augie, held that the Federal High Court in Lagos acted without jurisdiction when it convicted Kalu, his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited, and Udeogu.

The court held that trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, was no longer a judge of the Federal High Court as at the time he sat and delivered the judgment that convicted the defendants for allegedly stealing the sum from Abia State treasury. The Supreme Court ruled that Justice Idris, having been elevated to the Court of Appeal before then, lacked the powers to return to sit as a High Court judge.

Expressing his profound happiness at breathing the air of freedom one more time, Orji Kalu admitted to have learnt his lessons, and would work henceforth to upholding justice for all and sundry .

His statement read in part;

“I want to use this moment to thank my family, my colleagues, my friends, my supporters, the people of Abia State, and all Nigerians for their unflinching and unwavering confidence and trust in me through the very testing period. We all know today that their prayers have not been in vain,” he said.

“I also use this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Nigerian Correctional Service for the unalloyed professionalism and sincere humanity extended to me by its staff while I was in their custody.

“I must accord a special mention to the Justices of our Supreme Court for their unwavering commitment to rule of law. We all stand reminded of the consistent and strategic relevance of the Nigerian Supreme Court in holding this country together, even in moments of great peril. As far back as in the 1971 case of LAKANMI V. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION, (the Ademola Adetokumbo-led Court) the Nigerian Supreme Court has severally rescued this country from the precipice.

“My case is a true Nigerian story with a bold MADE-IN-NIGERIA stamp on it. It is a story of initial injustice that was caught and ultimately corrected. It is a story of restoration. It is a story of how a wrong was righted and how justice and truth prevailed in the end.”

However, Kalu’s joy may be short-lived as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it would immediately begin a fresh trial of the former governor for theft of public fund and money laundering as ordered by the Supreme Court.

In reaction to Friday’s verdict, the EFCC in a statement described the order as “quite unfortunate” and vowed to prepare a fresh and immediate trial of the case, saying this is because its evidences against Kalu and the others were overwhelming.

Noting that the court based its verdict on the grounds that Justice Mohammed Idris, who convicted Kalu and others had been elevated to the Court of Appeal before the judgment and returned to the lower court to deliver the judgement which it considered illegal, the EFCC, through its Head, Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, declared the agency’s preparedness for a fresh and immediate retrial, adding that the setback at the Supreme Court was a ‘technical ambush’.

“The entire prosecutorial machinery of the EFCC would be launched in a fresh trial where justice is bound to be served in due course”, Oyewale warned.

Bookmakers are believing that the case against Uzor Kalu may have met a brick wall. They reasoned that whatever may prompted the Federal Government to sit back and allow the Supreme Court to have its way, could very well militate against the ex-governor’s return to jail. They dismissed the EFCC’s threat as another flash in the pan that will fizzle out with time.

A respondent, who prefers anonymity, told The Boss that the way things are going, there is the likelihood that Kalu’s case may go the way of Danjuma Goje, whose case Nigerians woke up one morning to hear has been dropped. Much as it took everyone by surprise, reports had it that the dropping of Goje’s case was in exchange for him to drop his senate presidency ambition. It is not known yet what Uzor Kalu’s bargaining chips are, but someone has muted that it has a lot to do with 2023 and Igbo Presidency.

Fingers still remain crossed!

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

5 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

1 week ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”