Mohammed Liman, judge of a federal high court in Lagos, has
fixed June 2 to hear of a motion on notice filed by Orji Kalu, a former Abia
state governor, seeking release from prison.
In his application, the former governor asked the court to
order his release from the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS),
Kuje, Abuja, following the nullification of his conviction by the supreme
court.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had
arraigned Kalu and Ude Jones Udeogu, a former director of finance and account
of Abia state on 36 counts of money laundering to the tune of N7.1 billion.
On December 5, 2019, Kalu was sentence to 12 years
imprisonment while Udeogu got a 10-year sentence.
On May 8, the supreme court nullified the trial of Kalu and
others. The apex court held that Mohammed Idris, the trial judge who had been
elevated to the court of appeal at the time of the case, ought not to have
presided over the matter while he was appeal court judge.
Ejembi Eko, who read the lead judgment on behalf of the
seven-man panel of justices, said section 396(7) of the Administration of
Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, on which Zainab Bulkachuwa, former president
of the court of appeal, relied on to authorise the trial judge to return to the
high court to conclude the trial was unconstitutional.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com