In Prison, Kalu Begins Another Chapter of Life
Segun James writes that former governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu may still be grappling with the reality of his transition from a position of influence to a prisoner
Orji Uzor Kalu’s descent from the Red Chamber of the National Assembly as a senator to a prisoner is certainly a turning point in President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption in the country.
Although it took about 12 years in coming, the shock was no less when it happened. Kalu has become the third ex-governor in the country to be jailed for corruption. But his was the most shocking.
If Kalu had an inkling of what judgment was coming his way last Thursday, he probably would have feigned illness. Like most politicians, he was confident that nothing untoward will happen.
After all, he now belongs to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), where, he believed, he had met all the criteria for his sins to be forgiven and even forgotten.
He had joined the party from the opposition. He had also vilified his former colleagues in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at every opportunity. What’s more, he had won a ticket to the Senate on the platform of the APC. He was a political asset!
He must have been confident that he would be acquitted of the corruption case; and that the court process was simply a formality, to send him home with the injunction to sin no more.
However, that was not to be as he was found guilty of corruption and handed the “Go to Jail Directly” card.
The shock for Kalu was sudden, shocking and devastating. He was heard pleading with correctional officers: “Please don’t handcuff me, I will cooperate with you.”
It was the rise and fall of an ultimate power broker. The descent of a larger than life man; from a former governor to a senator; and now, to a prisoner!
The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos and presided by Justice Mohammed Idris found him guilty. The judge said Mr. Kalu was guilty of the charges against. After the conviction, Kalu’s lawyers pleaded with the court for a favorable sentence.
Kalu has been facing trial for over a decade after he was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly carting away billions of naira belonging to the state while he served as Abia governor.
He was tried alongside his company, Slok Nigeria Limited, and Mr. Udeh Udeogu, who was the Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia State Government House during Kalu’s tenure as governor.
The Road to Perfidy
Although Kalu claimed that he started the business at age 19 years and at 20 years, he was already a millionaire; this could not be ascertained. When he was barely 30 years, he had had brushes with the law. He was expelled from the University of Maiduguri for, as he claimed, activism.
But he gained notoriety when he allegedly donated cash to the Borno State Development Fund. Coming from a university drop out, the huge donation made the headlines, but the content of the box was later found out to contain blank papers neatly cut to size and covered with actual Naira notes. He was promptly arrested.
Like a Ninja, he was able to explain himself out of the mess. By this time, he was already a known face in the nation’s business and political sphere. He began to hobnob with shakers and makers of the military, business, and political hierarchy.
In 1999, at the age of 39 years, like a cat with nine lives, he came out from obscurity to win the Abia state governorship election to the consternation of many.
The Political Businessman
At the time he became governor on May 29, 1999, the new state had no state secretariat complex. Government businesses were conducted from rented apartments with civil servants squeezing themselves into buildings that were inadequate let alone comfortable.
Kalu took advantage of this to rent houses he hurriedly built for himself and others belonging to friends, family, and cronies to the government at an exorbitant rate. Making fast money at the expense of a government in which he was the executive governor.
Throughout his eight years as governor, he never attempted to build a state secretariat even though land and monies were allocated for the purpose.
Education
That Kalu was expelled from the University of Maiduguri was no longer news. The news was how he gained a first degree from Abia State University, Uturu; an act that could only have been imagined by a master storyteller.
As governor and visitor to the Abia State University, Kalu enrolled for his degree programme. Barely three years later, he was awarded a first-class degree without ever attending classes for one day!
