By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
Consequent upon the Supreme Court decision on May 8 nullifying the 12 years jail term slammed on former governor of Abia State Dr Orji Uzor Kalu by a Federal High and directing that the former governor be retried by another judge over alleged N7.1 billion fraud, a new date has been fixed for his rearraignment.
In complying with the decision of the Supreme Court, the Chief judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho has therefore assigned the case to Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court who has also fixed February 2, 2021 for commencement of the retrial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), will be prosecuting the former governor of Abia State who is also the Chief Whip of the Senate, as ordered by the Supreme Court. The Federal High Court Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho, has equally transferred Kalu’s case-file to Abuja.
Recall that Orji Uzor Kalu, who held sway as Abia State governor from 1999 to 2007, was earlier found guilty and sentenced to 12years imprisonment by the Lagos division of the court presided over by Justice Mohammed Idris of then Federal High Court (now Court of Appeal judge)
The trial court convicted the former governor alongside his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited and a former Director of Finance in Abia State, Jones Udeogu, for allegedly stealing about N7.1 billion from the state treasury.
However, the Supreme Court, in its judgement on May 8, quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial of the defendants by the EFCC. In a unanimous decision by a seven-man panel of Justices, the Supreme Court, nullified the entire proceedings that led to Kalu’s conviction, stressing that the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, was already elevated to the Court of Appeal, as at the time he sat and delivered a judgement against the defendants.
It held that Justice Idris was no longer a judge of the Federal High Court as at December 5, 2019, the day the former governor and his co-defendants were found guilty of the money laundering charge.
According to the Supreme Court, Justice Idris, having been elevated to the Court of Appeal before then, lacked the powers to return to sit as a High Court Judge. It held that the Fiat that was issued to him by the Court of Appeal President pursuant to Section 396(7) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA, 2015), was unconstitutional.
In its lead verdict that was delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko, the apex court held that the President of the Court of Appeal acted beyond her powers when she authorized the trial Judge to return to the High Court to deliver the pending judgement. He further held that the Court of Appeal President, by issuing a letter to Justice Idris to return to the Federal High Court to conclude the trial of Kalu and his co-defendants, usurped the power of President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint Judges for both superior courts, as well as the power of Chief Judge of the High Court to assign cases to Judges under him. Consequently, the Apex Court held that since Justice Idris returned to the trial court based on an unconstitutional directive by the Court of Appeal President, the judgement and subsequent conviction of the defendants amounted to a nullity.
It therefore ordered that the charge in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CR/26/2017, which EFCC entered against Kalu and his co-defendants, should be remitted back to Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for re-assignment to any other judge for the trial to commence de-novo (afresh).
The judgement followed an appeal Kalu’s firm, Slok, lodged to challenge the jurisdiction of the High Court that tried the matter and found the defendants guilty.