Senator Orji Uzor Kalu
A Federal High Court in Lagos presided by Justice Mohammed Idris on Thursday found a former Governor of Abia, Uzor Uzor Kalu, guilty of 39 counts of N7.2 billion fraud.
Mr Kalu, who was Abia State governor between 1999 and 2007, was charged alongside Jones Udeogo, the state Commissioner for Finance during his tenure as the governor.
Mr Kalu’s company, Slok Nig. Ltd., was also a defendant in the suit.
While Kalu and his company were convicted on all the 39 counts of the fraud charge, Mr Udeogo was found guilty of 34 counts.
In one of the counts, the EFCC alleged that Mr 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 further claimed that the N7.2 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.”