Orji Uzor Kalu, the Chief Whip of the Senate and senator representing Abia North, has expressed his desire to lead the National Assembly.

Kalu, speaking to reporters in Abuja on March 21, said he would prefer that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) “zone it to me with my name” because “Tinubu needs people of high character to turn around this economy.”

He described himself as “an economic person” and an entrepreneur. Kalu then highlighted his time as Governor of Abia State, saying he maintained a single phone number from 1999 to 2007 as governor and continued to maintain same in 2023.

“Remember, I am the only governor who has never changed my phone number since I became governor 24 years ago. I am willing to still maintain that telephone number to answer all my calls. I am not going to switch off my phones because I became Senate President,” he said.

On Tuesday, Kalu was at the Aso Rock Villa to recruit the support of President Muhammadu Buhari for his ambition. He again spoke to the press and expressed the intention of occupying the Senate’s highest principal office.

READ ALSO: FLASHBACK: The Day CJN Ariwoola Ruled That Forfeiture Means Punishment for Crime

What he did not tell the press, however, was that during his time as governor, he stole N7.56 billion from the state coffers, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) knows about it.

FOR 12 YEARS, EFCC PROSECUTED KALU IN COURT OVER N7.56BN FRAUD. THE VERDICT? GUILTY

On July 11, 2007, the EFCC arrested Kalu for the first time. He had recently lost his immunity, and the anti-grant agency was ready to prosecute him for abusing his office as governor.

Kalu stood trial for 12 years alongside Slok Nigeria Ltd., his company, and Udeh Udeogu, who was the director of finance and accounts at the Abia State Government House during Kalu’s tenure as governor.

The EFCC, in one of its counts, said Kalu, during his time as governor, “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 N7.1 billion, according to the EFCC prosecution team, “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 three defendants were also accused of receiving a total of N460 million allegedly stolen from the Abia State Government treasury between July and December 2002.

Delivering judgement on December 5, 2019, Mohammed Idris, a judge at a federal high court sitting in Lagos, found Kalu guilty on 29 counts and handed him a 12-year prison sentence. Udeogu also bagged 10 years.

BECAUSE IDRIS WAS PROMOTED, SUPREME COURT FREED KALU AFTER ONLY 5 MONTHS

On May 8, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled on an application filed by Udeogu.

Udeogu had challenged the jurisdiction of Idris to hand a sentence given that he was promoted to the rank of Appeal Court judge prior to sentencing and thus lacked the power to preside over a High Court matter.

On June 2, 2020, a federal high court in Lagos, presided over by Mohammed Liman, ordered Udeogu and Kalu’s immediate release from custody. Both men had been incarcerated for five months.

READ ALSO: FACT-CHECK: Is the Trending Phone Conversation of Peter Obi and Oyedepo a Deepfake?

The EFCC did not challenge this but prayed the court to grant it the opportunity to retry the matter.

Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), counsel for EFCC, said, “We are also urging the court that the order made by the Supreme Court for trial de novo should be complied with by all parties, so that Your Lordship will give us a date when arraignment will be done.

“We want the trial to go on, losing more time will be dangerous for us.”

‘YOU CANNOT TRY KALU ON THIS MATTER AGAIN’, COURT TELLS EFCC

After Kalu’s release from prison in 2020, he filed an application in a federal high court in Abuja, seeking to stop his retrial.

This application was granted by Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, on September 29, 2021.

Ekwo said, “The judgement of the Supreme Court on this matter is final.

“On the whole, the fact that there is no order for retrial of the applicant in the judgement of the Supreme Court, or by the virtue of Section 36 (9) of the 1999 constitution as amended, or Section 283 (2) of the ACJA (Administration of Criminal Justice Act), has allowed prayer two of the applicant to succeed.

“Going by the facts and circumstances of this case, I find that the case of the applicant (Mr Kalu) has succeeded.”

At this juncture, Ekwo’s verdict begs the question, does refusing a retrial mean Kalu is now innocent of the allegations, or does the guilty verdict stand? He answered it.

Ekwo cited section 36 (9) of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 238 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (2015), in saying, “No person can be retried on the offence upon which he has been convicted.

“The order of prohibition is hereby made, prohibiting the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and agents, officers, servants, persons or bodies deriving authority from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from retrying the applicant in charge number: FHC/ABJ/56/2007 or any other charge based on the same facts de novo (afresh). There has been no extant judgement or ruling of a competent court in Nigeria mandating same. That is the judgement of the court.”

This ruling did not protect Udeogu though. Ekwo ordered his retrial to begin on January 11, 2022.

According to Ekwo, because Kalu was convicted, he cannot be tried on the same matter again, but Udeogu, who was convicted alongside Kalu, could be retried.

DEFIANT EFCC STILL WANT TO PROSECUTE KALU

Following Ekwo’s ruling, Jacobs faulted Kalu’s argument, and said, “The plaintiff (Orji Kalu) and his co-defendant are enjoying the benefit of the Supreme Court judgement, but they are avoiding the burden that comes with it.

“The Supreme Court ordered that plaintiff and his co-defendant be tried denovo (afresh). So, there must be a conviction or an acquittal by a competent court.”

On December 15, 2022, Abdulrasheed Bawa, the EFCC Chairman, confirmed to pressmen at the Aso Rock Villa that the anti-graft agency was still after Kalu.

Bawa said, “The prosecution lasted for 12 years or so and he was convicted by the court. He went to the Supreme Court and the court said yes because he was elevated to the Court of Appeal, he could not come back to the lower court and that he should be retried in Lagos.

“So we wanted to arraign him almost immediately in Lagos for the prosecution to start all over again and then he went to court, challenging that he has been discharged and acquitted and nobody discharged and acquitted him and we are still pursuing the matters in court here in Abuja. So, the matter is still ongoing.”

Since Bawa’s statement, the EFCC has not dragged Kalu to court for a retrial, and the lawmaker has neither been discharged nor acquitted.

By the 2019 court ruling on the matter, and Ekwo’s 2021 ruling, Kalu remains a convicted felon.