The Supreme Court in Nigeria has nullified the conviction of a former governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu, and second defendant, Ude Udeogu, Kalu's Commissioner for Finance when he was governor of the South-East state.
Allnews understands that the apex court in Nigeria on Friday, also ordered the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to reassign the case for a fresh trial.
It would be recalled that Kalu was convicted by the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on Thursday, December 5, 2019, and sentenced to 12 years in prison for N7.65 billion fraud.
He was convicted for defrauding the government of Abia State where he was a governor for 8 years using his company, Slok Nigeria Limited.
Days after the court ordered the forfeiture of the company, Nigeria anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) commenced the process of winding down Slok Nigeria Limited including The Sun Publishing Ltd which was not part of the charges.
Consequently, The Sun Publishing Ltd approached a High Court in Lagos for interpretation of the judgment that convicted Kalu and Slok Nigeria Limited asking the court to compel EFCC to stay away from The Sun Publishing Ltd since it was not part of the court case.
He was held in custody at the Ikoyi prisons in Lagos.
In December, Kalu filed a bail application at a Lagos High Court pending the determination of his appeal against his conviction.
On December 23, 2019, the court rejected his bail application for lack of merit.
More to follow...
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