APC HAILS THE SUPREME COURT'S VOIDING OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT'S CONVICTION OF SENATOR ORJI UZOR KALU, HIGHLIGHTS WHAT IT MEANS FOR NDIGBO

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi has applauded the Supreme Court for upturning a lower court judgment that sentenced Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu to 12 years in prison on corruption allegation.

The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the December 5, 2019 judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

In a unanimous judgement by a seven-man panel, the apex court held that the Federal High Court in Lagos, which tried and convicted Kalu, his firm Slok Nigeria Limited and his former aide, Jones Udeogu, acted without jurisdiction.

The court was of the view that Justice Mohammed Idris, who conducted the trial, was no longer a judge of the Federal High Court at the time he sat and delivered the judgment that convicted the defendants for allegedly stealing N7.65 billion from the treasury of Abia State.

The Supreme Court added that Justice Idris, having been elevated to the Court of Appeal before then, lacked the powers to return to sit as a High Court judge.

The court said the fiat that was issued to Justice Idris by the Court of Appeal President, pursuant to Section 396(7) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act was unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court then proceeded to set aside the judgment that convicted the defendants and ordered a fresh trial of the defendants by another judge.

Chief Eze Nwachukwu, the state APC Chairman, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abakaliki that the judgment delivered by the apex court was a victory for democracy and supremacy of the rule of law. He said that Ebonyi APC received the news with great joy and jubilation, adding that justice has been served following the acquittal.

He said: “We applaud the nation’s judiciary and the apex court which saw it necessary that justice was strangled along the line.

“That the judicial procedure that would have given a credible judgment was not followed, thereby setting aside the judgment and ordering for retrial.

“We say it is a welcome development because the earlier judgment brought the transparency of the judiciary to question, we commend the Supreme Court for doing the needful.

“Yes, he has spent months in incarceration but we believe as Christians that God may have used those periods to keep him away from unknown evil and no matter the pains he may have gone, the joy of his freedom will wash them away.

“The prison experience has also given him the opportunity like he said, to know who is who to him, his political and economic lives,” he said.

Nwachukwu described the embattled Abia-born politician and businessman as one of the foremost Igbo leaders that devoted his entire life, carrier and wealth to humanity.

The party expressed confidence that Kalu, whom it described as a ‘beacon’ of political hope for the South-East, would be vindicated at the end of his retrial.

Also, Dr Paul Okorie, a chieftain of APC and former commissioner for environment, commended the apex court for vacating the judgment of the lower court, saying that the pronouncement was an affirmation of supremacy of the nation’s constitution.

“Sen. Kalu took his conviction to the Supreme Court on the ground that the Constitution of Nigeria was breached at the lower court in the course of his conviction.

“The Supreme Court Judges upheld his position; this is another proof of supremacy of the constitution of our land.

“Hence, in whatever we do, we must bear it in mind that our constitution is supreme in all situations,” Okorie said.

Another chieftain of the party, Chief Abia Onyike in his reaction described the judgment as a positive welcome development for Kalu and Ndigbo.

Onyike, a former Ebonyi commissioner for information and orientation, said that the entire South-East and truth loving Nigerians wished him well as he resumes at the Senate.

“The ruling by the Supreme Court on Kalu is a positive development for himself and Ndigbo. We wish him well as he resumes at the Senate. He must have learnt some lessons from his ordeal.

“Igbo political leadership at this time requires self-assessment; we need an invigorated and vibrant political renaissance and Sen. Kalu should know that much is still expected from him,” he said.