Admin l Wednesday, September 29, 2021
LAGOS, Nigeria – A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has barred the Federal Government from putting the former Governor of Abia State, Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu on trial for the second time for N7.1 billion fraud.
Orji Uzor Kalu who was being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC was discharged on technical ground when the judge handling his matter at the Federal High Court in Lagos, Justice Mohammed Idris was promoted to the Court of Appeal but condescended to the Federal High Court to read his judgment when the matter should have started de novo.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that the Supreme Court did not in the verdict it gave on May 8, 2020, order the retrial of either Kalu or his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited.
According to Ekwo, the Supreme Court only ordered retrial of former Director of Finance in Abia State Government, Mr. Jones Udeogu, who was the appellant before it. He therefore upheld the suit filed by the former governor challenging the legality of his planned re-arraignment by the EFCC.
The former Abia Governor had through his lawyer, Chief Awa Kalu, SAN, queried the rationale for EFCC to commence his retrial on the same charge and same facts upon which he was earlier convicted and sentenced on December 5, 2019.
“The unassailable position of the law is that no person who shows that he has been tried by any court of competent jurisdiction or tribunal for a criminal offence and either convicted or acquitted, shall again be tried for that offence having the same ingredients as that offence, save upon the order or a competent Court.
“The trial of the Applicant having been pronounced a nullity by the Supreme Court in its judgment dated the 8th day of May, 2020 and without more, cannot entitle the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to institute the same charge against the Applicant”.
Kalu, told the court that he was convicted and sentenced by Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Lagos with respect to the extant charge against him.
“That following the conviction and sentence of the Applicant, the Applicant was incarcerated at the Kuje Correctional Centre where he served part of his term having spent a few days in the Ikoyi Correctional Centre”.
