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Orji Kalu jailed 12 years for stealing N7.65 billion Abia State money
BY OUR EDITOR
A former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, has been sentenced to prison for 12 years for stealing N7.65 billion, belonging to the state while he was in office.
The Federal High Court in Lagos Thursday sentenced the former governor, currently a serving Senator on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) representing Abia North, after he was found guilty on all the 39-count charges brought against him.
The court ruled that Orji Kalu perpetuated the fraud while he was Abia State governor between 1999 and 2007.
Kalu, the Chief Whip of Nigeria’s Senate, was convicted alongside his company, Slok Nigeria Limited and his former Abia State director of finance, Ude Udeogu.
The court also ordered forfeiture of all assets of his company to the Federal Government.
THE GUARDIAN online reports that Justice Mohammed Idris, who delivered the sentence, had earlier declared him guilty of the charge in the case that had been on for 12 years.
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In an amended 39-counts-charge, Kalu, Slok and Udeogu were accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of conspiring and diverting over N7 billion from the coffers of the state.
In one of the counts, the EFCC alleged that Kalu “did procure Slok Nigeria Limited – a company solely owned by you and members of your family – to retain in its account, domiciled with the then Inland Bank Plc, Apapa Branch, Lagos, an aggregate sum of N7,197,871,208.7 on your behalf.”
The prosecution claimed that the N7.1 billion “formed part of the funds illegally derived from the treasury of the Abia State Government and which was converted into several bank drafts before they were paid into the said company’s account.”
The prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, said the ex-governor violated Section 17(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, and was liable to be punished under Section 16 of the same Act.
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Apart from the N7.1 billion, which he was accused of laundering, the ex-governor and the other defendants were also accused of receiving a total of N460 million allegedly stolen from the Abia State Government treasury between July and December 2002.
The prosecutor said they breached Section 427 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap 77, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty to all counts.
During the trial, the prosecution called 19 witnesses while the defendants testified by themselves.