Former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, said on Friday that the decision of the Supreme Court directing his trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged N2.4b fraud as governor is a welcome development, pointing out that there was nothing unusual about the order.
Dr. Kalu, who made this known from London where he is delivering a convocation lecture, declared that he was ready and highly disposed to the trial. “This is another opportunity to prove my innocence. I have all the records and facts of the case. I am willing to submit myself for the rule of law to take its course. That has always been my passionate advocacy right from the lower courts where the case emanated.
According to a release signed by his media adviser, Mr. Ebere Wabara, “this clarification has become imperative lest oppositional forces mischievously misinterpret the ruling and mislead the public by injecting their jaundiced opinions into the routine directive as had always been with similar cases where the apex court intervened. There is nothing novel about the latest manifestation in the on-going litigation—it was the next thing to expect.”
“I assure the EFCC of my continued support and profound cooperation in any further investigation into this allegation. Let me reaffirm that all the defence documents relating to the case are at my disposal and I am willing when the time comes to make them available to the agency.
“There is nothing surprising about this stage of the case. Having exhausted the lower court processes, the next level is where we have arrived and as I have always insisted I will be vindicated at the end of it all. I have nothing to fear as there is no skeleton in my cupboard hence my robust commitment to the rule of law in this and other issues involving me. This is part of the price I have to pay for opposing the third-term agenda fiasco of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. My happiness is that Nigerians are aware of all my travails for standing against evil in the country in whatever form,” Dr. Kalu said.
The Supreme Court, had on Friday, gave the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the nod to prosecute the former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu on a 107-count corruption charge.
The charge borders on the alleged complicity of the erstwhile governor in money laundering and illegal diversion of public funds to the tune of N5.6billion. Kalu was alleged to have perpetuated the fraud while he piloted the affairs of Abia State between 1999 and 2007.
Though the anti-graft agency docked him before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on July 27, 2007, however, for the past eight years, the defendant, through various interlocutory applications, frustrated moves by the prosecution to open its case against him.
The defendant firstly challenged the competence of the charge against him, as well as the jurisdiction of the High Court to hear and determine the case.
Meanwhile, following refusal by the trial court to quash the charge, Kalu, took the case before the Court of Appeal in Abuja. The appellate court, in a unanimous judgment, upheld the competence of the charge, adding that the high court was constitutionally empowered to exercise jurisdiction on the trial. Dissatisfied with the verdict, Kalu approached the Supreme Court, begging it to set-aside the concurrent findings of the two lower courts.
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