The Supreme Court has put aside the Federal High Court ruling that convicted and sentenced the former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor-Kalu, to 12 years imprisonment. It then ordered a fresh trial of the defendants.
The highest court on Friday, May 8, in a unanimous decision by a seven-man panel of Justices led by Justice Amina Augie, held that the Federal High Court in Lagos acted without jurisdiction when it convicted Kalu, his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited and former Director of Finance in Abia State, Jones Udeogu.
The Apex court held that trial Justice Mohammed Liman was no longer a judge of the Federal High Court as at the time he sat and delivered the judgement that convicted the defendants for allegedly stealing about N7.1billion from Abia state treasury.
On December 5, 2019, a Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday sentenced Orji Kalu, to 12 years’ imprisonment for N7.2 billion fraud and money laundering.
