A Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from retrying a former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor-Kalu, who was earlier convicted of N7.1 billion fraud.
The restraining order was given by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court. Kalu, who is a serving senator, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on May 8, 2020.
The EFCC had prosecuted Kalu alongside Ude Udeogu, a former Director of Financial and accounts with the Abia State government, and Kalu’s company, Slok Nigeria Limited on 39 counts of fraud involving N7.1 billion at the federal high court in Lagos.
Recall that on December 5, 2019, Mohammed Idris, a then judge of the Federal High Court in Lagos, (now a Justice of the Court of Appeal), sentenced Kalu to 12 years in prison for N7.65 billion fraud.
The judge sentenced his co-defendant, Udeh Udeogu, to 10 years in jail for diverting Abia State’s funds to the tune of N7.1 billion.
The former governor had gotten out of prison based on the apex court’s judgment, but he quickly filed an application before the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop his retrial.
Ruling on the application on Wednesday, Justice Inyang Ekwo granted Kalu’s request.
However, the court ordered the anti-graft agency to retry Udeogu, a former director of finance and accounts with the Abia State Government.