The convicted Chief Whip of the
Senate, Orji Kalu, will continue to receive his salaries and all other
entitlements while in prison, the Senate has said.
This is despite that he will not
be performing any legislative function from prison.
The spokesperson of the Senate,
Godiya Akwashiki, disclosed this on Sunday.
He said despite the conviction,
Mr Kalu remains a sitting senator and will be paid all of his entitlements in
full.
He said until the case gets to
Surpeme Court and a final judgement is given, Mr Kalu remains a serving
lawmaker.
“He is still a senator. This is
the first court. The matter is going to Supreme Court so, he still has the
opportunity to appeal up to the Supreme Court level.
“Of course they will pay him.
Because he is a sitting senator just like I said…if you file for appeal, you
are still serving and so they will pay you.
“All his entitlements will be
paid. There is no cause for alarm. In fact, even if Court of Appeal says they have
upheld the judgement of the lower court, he still has the right to go to
Supreme Court. So once the Supreme Court says, yes, the judgement is okay, then
that’s the final,” he explained.
Earlier, Mr Akwashiki said Mr
Kalu’s seat will not be declared vacant.
He explained that no provision in
the constitution that says the seat of any senator facing prosecution or
convicted at a lower court should be declared vacant.
Mr Kalu’s seat will not be
declared vacant except he (Mr Kalu) has explored all the legal options
available to him without success, he said.
“Even the tenure of a former
governor Joshua Dariye, who has been in prison for some time now, ran its
course until the end of the 8th National Assembly. Nobody declared his seat
vacant.”
The Federal High Court in Lagos
on Thursday sentenced Mr Kalu to 12 years in prison after convicting him of
N7.65 billion fraud.
Mr Kalu, a former governor of
Abia State, was pronounced guilty of the charge in a trial that lasted for 12
years.
The conviction comes 12 years
after the ex-governor was first arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) in 2007 and was tried alongside his company, Slok Nigeria
Limited, and Udeh Udeogu, who was Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia
State Government House during Mr Kalu’s tenure as governor.
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