The trial of a former Abia State governor and Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, Orji Uzor Kalu, will resume at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos today.
The trial which had been on for over 13 years was given a fresh fiat by President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, to enable him to return to the court to conclude the case.
Justice Idris was elevated from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal in June 2018. But he continued to hear the case after the President of the Court of Appeal initially granted a fiat for him to do so.
The fiat was granted at the instance of Kalu’s Lawyer, Professor Awa Kalu (SAN) who activated Section 396(7) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, in order to prevent the case from being transferred to another judge to start afresh.
That fiat expired in November 2018.
A copy of a Fresh Fiat sighted by our Judiciary Correspondent, Shola Soyele stated that the trial will now commence on July 22 and will continue from day to day until the trial is concluded.
Kalu is standing trial alongside his former Commissioner for Finance, Ude Udeogo, and a company, Slok Nigeria Limited, on an amended 39-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N7.6billion.
Join our twitter community :
