Some Aba residents in Abia have lauded the 12-year jail term handed down to ex-Gov. Orji Kalu of Abia, by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Mohammed Idris convicted Kalu on 39 counts of N7.2 billion fraud and money laundering preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Aba is the main base of Kalu – now a senator – and some of the residents said that the judgment was a warning to political office holders to be careful.
A lawyer and social critic, Chief Ukpai Ukairo told NAN: “The judgment is momentous and shows that you can run but cannot hide.
“The judgment shows that though the wheel of justice grinds slowly, it will surely grind very well.
“This is the time for Abia to recover money stolen by that regime and use it meaningfully.
“It is also a warning to all those in positions of authority that abuse the trust of the people.”
He urged that assets of Slok Nig. Ltd. – Kalu’s company – should be forfeited to Abia Government and not Federal Government.
A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party in Abia, Chief Okey Nwagbara, also lauded the judgment, saying that it demonstrated the commitment of the Federal Government to fight corruption.
He added that the judgment showed that the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government was not selective in its crusade against corruption.
“It is a very straight-forward judgment against corruption.
“The judgment shows that the judiciary is independent and actually the hope of the common man.
“I learnt that the court ruled that the property of Slok, Orji Kalu’s company, should be forfeited to the Federal Government.
“I want the Federal Government to do justice by converting the property of Slok to Abia Government’s, because the money he was accused of stealing, is Abia State Government’s,” he said.
Mr Uche Emeku of the Easy Life Initiative for Rural Youths (ELIRY) said that the judgment showed that the judiciary could act independently.
“It is not about Orji Kalu but sanity in our polity as long as it is not done with prejudice.
“I believe everybody who commits a crime should be punished for the crime he committed.
“Everybody should be very careful because it is about dispensing justice by those in the temple of justice,” he said.
Meanwhile two political party chieftains in Abia h ave reacted differently
to the Federal High Court judgment sentencing Sen. Orji Kalu, to 12 years in prison.
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Chief Donatus Nwankpa, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he was disappointed and angry with the judgment.
Nwankpa, who was a member of the Abia House of Assembly when Kalu was governor, said that the judgment was not fair.
“The party will meet to take a position on the judgment but as an individual, I am very saddened by the judgment.
“I am not convinced that judgment was given,” he said, adding that the court’s verdict sustained his doubts about the integrity and objectivity of the nation’s judiciary.
Nwankpa said that he never had the confidence that Kalu would get judgment, “considering the utterances of the judge.”
“I’m highly convinced that something went wrong. The judgment is not fair,” he said.
Conversely, the Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council in Abia, Mr Ceekay Igara, described the judgment as “good precedence.”
According to him, “if Kalu was found wanting as governor of the state, he should face judgment.
“It is a normal thing and goes to prove that nonody is above the law.
Igara, who is the state Chairman of the Labour Party, said that the judgment was supposed to teach two lessons.
He said, “The first lesson for those who are in government and second for others who intend to take over is that whatever they do, there is always a judgment day.”
Mr Maduka Okoro, the South-East Media Aide to Kalu, told NAN that Kalu would appeal the judgment “to allow other judges and a higher court take another look at the case.”
Okoro said that Kalu was not bothered by the judgment but considered it as one of the travails that every leader must experience “before becoming what God wants him to be.”
He expressed optimism that the judment would be reversed by a higher court, adding that Kalu would be acquitted at last.
He said that as governor, Kalu administered Abia transparently and never defrauded the state.
Kalu was Abia governor from 1999 to 2007 and won election to the Senate in the 2019 election, after three attempts.
