The Federal High Court in Lagos has found the Chief Whip of the National Assembly and a former Abia State Governor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, and two others guilty of N7.65bn fraud.
Kalu’s co-defendants are his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited and Udeh Udeogu, who was Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia State Government House during his tenure as governor.
The presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Idris sentence him to twelve years Imprisonment.
The judge also ordered the wind up of Slok Limited which he used to perpetrate the fraud, while sentencing Ude Udeogwu to ten years in jail.
The former governor who is presently inside the defendants box looked sober as the court pronounced him guilty.
The defendant was initially arraigned before the court twelve years ago but his trial was stalled.
They were first arraigned in 2007 before Justice Adamu Bello but several adjournments and transfer of judges stalled the trial.
In 2018, the EFCC closed its case after calling 19 witnesses.
In their defence, Mr Kalu and his co-defendants filed a no-case submission before the court.
Before he could hear and rule on the no-case submission, Justice Mohammed Idris, was elevated to the Court of Appeal.
The judge, however, received a fiat from the appeal court president, Zainab Bulkachuwa, to return to the high court and conclude the case.
Rather than proceed to open their defence, Mr Kalu sought a six-week adjournment to enable him embark on a trip to Germany to have surgery for an undisclosed ailment.
The defendants later challenged the judge’s jurisdiction to hear the case, arguing that he was no longer a judge of the high court.
They also filed an application for a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of their appeals.
The judge dismissed both applications.
When Mr Kalu did not present himself for trial, the judge revoked his bail and ordered him to submit himself to the EFCC within 24 hours of his return to the country.
Mr Kalu, however, failed to heed the judge’s directive and began campaigning for his senatorial election.
In April this year, the Court of Appeal in Lagos upheld Justice Idris decision against Sen Kalu.
He was a governor under the Peoples Democratic Party but defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress where he contested and won a senatorial seat.
He is currently the chief whip in the senate
Details later
