Former governor of Abia state, Senator Orji Kalu has been released from prison.
A Federal High Court in Lagos had on Tuesday granted a motion seeking his release from the Kuje Prison custody. Justice Mohammed Liman before whom the applicant’s motion was pending, granted the prayer of the applicant and ordered the release of Kalu.
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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 and they were jailed in December 2019.
In the verdict handed down by Justice Mohammed Idris on December 5, 2019, Kalu was sentenced to 12 years while his co-defendant, Jones Udeogu bagged a 10-year jail term.
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However, on May 8, the Supreme Court nullified the trial of Kalu’s co-convict.
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 an appeal court judge.
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