Two socio-political
Organizations, Abia Good Governance Initiative and Ndi-Abia United, have
insisted that the loots recovered from ex-governor Orji Uzor Kalu be returned
back to the state’s coffers.
A
Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday found Kalu guilty of 39 counts of N7.2
billion fraud and money laundering.
Kalu was charged alongside Jones
Udeogo, the state Commissioner for Finance during his tenure as the governor.
Addressing newsmen on behalf of
the groups on Monday in Aba, Emeka Kanu and Chidi Nkume asserted that it would
be a gross injustice if the Federal Government diverted the money to the
centre, pointing out that that itself would also be another corruption.
They said, “The money belongs to
Abians and should be returned to Abia. We want the anti-corruption agency
(EFCC) to look deeper into the activities of other past and even present
political office holders in the state, as a lot of money belonging to the state
was looted by her political rulers.
“They bought houses, estates,
factories, cars, shops, malls all over Nigeria and outside. Some are even
building Universities in Ghana and other places.”
Meanwhile, a group, a Coalition
of Civil Society Organizations of Nigeria, (COSCON),has commended the EFCC and
the Judiciary for the jailing of Kalu after twelve years of trial.
Reacting to the 12-year jail term
slammed on Senator Kalu, who represents Abia North district in the upper
chamber of the National Assembly, the Director of Programme of the Coalition,
Nelson Ndukwe on Monday, opined that the anti-graft commission, and the
judiciary had further proved they were not rubber stamp to the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led federal government of Nigeria.
It commended the President for
not interfering in the matter despite Orji Kalu being a member of the governing
All Progressives Congress (APC).
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