The authorities of the Kuje Correctional Center have been ordered by a Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday to release a former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, whose corruption conviction, by Justice Mohammed Idris, on December 5, 2019 was set aside.
Justice Mohammed Liman, ordered that Kalu who is also the Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District should be released after ruling on an application filed by the former two-term governor.
The Supreme Court had in a unanimous decision by a seven-man panel of Justices ruled that the Federal High Court in Lagos acted without jurisdiction when it convicted Kalu, Slok Nigeria Limited and Jones Udeogu, a former Director of Finance in Abia state who worked with Kalu when he was governor.
The apex court held that trial Justice Mohammed Liman was no longer a judge of the Federal High Court as at the time he delivered the judgement that convicted the defendants.
Kalu was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for N7.1 billion fraud by Justice Muhammed Idris. The judge also ordered that Kalu’s company, Slok Nigeria Limited, be liquidated and its assets forfeited to the federal government.
The court convicted Kalu on all the 39 counts preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
