Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State was on
Wednesday night released from the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja.
The former governor, now a serving senator, was reportedly
set free from prison around 7:30pm.
The Federal High Court in Lagos, had on Tuesday ordered the
immediate release of Kalu from Kuje
prison.
The court also ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, to immediately put machinery in motion for the retrial of the
former governor.
The court further ordered that his trial should start afresh
along side the former Director of Finance in Abia State Government House, Ude Jones Udeogu in line with the
judgement of the Supreme Court that
declared Udeogu’s trial, conviction and sentence a nullity.
Orji is serving a 12-year jail term at the Correctional
Service Centre in Kuje, Abuja for looting N7.65 billion belonging to the Abia
State Government.
The former Governor now a Senator of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria hired a 12-man team of lawyers, to file
application for his release.
The application pending before Justice Mohammed Liman was
filed on May 12 asking the court to
nullify his conviction sentence and release
him.
Justice Mohammed Idris
who was elevated to Court of Appeal, on December 5, 2019, convicted Kalu
and a former Director of Finance in the Abia State Government House, Ude Jones
Udeogu of the offence of fraud.
Udeogu was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
However, following Udeogu’s appeal, the Supreme Court on May
8, 2020 declared that the fiat issued to Justice Idris to conclude the case
after he had been elevated to the Court of Appeal was “a nullity”.
The apex court set aside Idris’ verdict “as it relates to the appellant (Udeogu)’s
conviction.
Consequently, the court
ordered that Udeogu should be released
and the retrial of his case.
However, Kalu who was not part of this appeal contended that
no legal basis existed for his continued incarceration following the Supreme
Court’s judgment which declared the whole trial a nullity and freed Udeogu.
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