By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
Former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, on Tuesday denied the allegations that he stole N7.2 billion while serving as governor of Abia State between 1999 and 2007.
He said that Abia State under him had no such fund.
Orji Kalu, who is now a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, made the denial during his testimony before Justice Mohammed Idris of Appeal Court, who was given the fiat to conclude the trial of the ex-governor before a Federal High Court in Lagos Nigeria.
The former governor while responding to a question from his counsel, Prof. Awa Kalu (SAN) over the allegation, disclosed that there was no way he could steal what was non-existence.
“Abia State does not have such amount. Even the day I was leaving, we borrowed money to pay salaries. Abia State doesn’t have even a billion naira in any account at the time I was governor”, he said.
To proof innocence of the allegation preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the current Chief Whip of the Senate narrated to court the difficulties he encountered in running the State with allocations from federal government.
The first defendant who has opened his defense said: “The monthly allocation of Abia State when I took over in June 1999 was N168 million. It was averaging between N168 million and N172 million monthly. The first month that I came in, there was even no money to buy diesel. I spent my own money to run the state for six months.
“In the year 2000, monthly allocation was between N170 million and N189 million. In 2001, it came to about N302 million and to about N380 million. I can recollect in 2002, it was almost the same and in 2003 when the revenue allocation was changed, we were having about N400 million.
“The highest money I got as governor came from 2004 when we have about N1billion and from that time up till May 2007 before I left, what we had was N1.6 billion.
“Throughout my stay in office, I never owed salary and pension. When I took over as governor and before I left, we moved it up to N500 million. It was from this that we were able to do a lot of things”.
Kalu had in his evidence on July 22 when he opened defense, told the court that he has been a successful businessman before venturing into politics.
Speaking on his line of businesses before he began his political career, he said: “I was running a group of companies under Slok Nigeria Ltd and I have a big furniture factory in Maiduguri. I was also trading in cows. The cows were coming from Chad to Umuahia. I also had a veritable oil factory in Aba supplying to people in Kano and Maiduguri.
“I was also into shipping activities with major oil companies. We also have a very big corn farm in the East and Bauchi.
“We were major shareholder before another shareholder bought off First Bank. In 1994, the then Hallmark Bank had a problem and I later bought majority stake in the bank. We also had major interests in Banks in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gambia, Sieria-leone, Liberia and the then Sudan before crisis set in”.
Senator Orji Kalu in his evidence disclosed that he was into buying and selling of property.
He further said that he made all his statements to the EFCC under unfair treatment from some police officers.
“When I learnt they were looking for me, I called Ibrahim Lamorde that I was in the United States and that I will show up upon my return to the country.
“But when I returned to Nigeria, they were waiting for me at the airport and whisked me away to their office. After I was beating up thoroughly by police officers, I asked them what was my offence and they told me I have been insulting President Obasanjo. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Ibrahim Lamorde later came to apologize to me”.
Further hearing in the matter continues on Wednesday August 28.
In the charge brought against tthe defendants by the EFCC, they were alleged to have committed the offence between August 2001 and October 2005.
Kalu was alleged to have utilised his company to retain in the account of a First Inland bank, now FCMB, the sum of N200 million.
The sum is alleged to have formed part of funds illegally derived from the treasury of Abia State Government.
In one of the counts, Kalu’s company (Slok Nig Ltd) and one Emeka Abone who is said to be at large, were also alleged to have retained in the company’s account the sum of N200 million, on behalf of the first defendant.
In counts one to 10, the defendants were alleged to have retained about N2.5 billion in different accounts, which funds were said to belong to the Abia State Government.
Cumulatively, in all the counts, the defendants were alleged to have diverted over N7.2 billion from the Abia State government’s treasury, during Kalu’s tenure as governor.
The offence is said to have contravened the provisions of Sections 15(6), 16, and 21 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2005.
It also contravenes the provisions of the Money Laundering Act of 1995 as amended by the amendment Act No.9 of 2002 and Section 477 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation, 1990.
