Former Abia State governor Orji Kalu has told a Federal High Court in Lagos that he had no case to answer over alleged fraud charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Recall that the former governor is being prosecuted alongside his company, Slok Nigeria Limited; and a former Director of Finance and Account at the Abia State Government House, Ude Udeogu for alleged fraud.
According to the charges by the EFCC, while serving as governor of Abia State, Kalu siphoned over N2.9bn from the state’s treasury.
However, Kalu’s lawyer Awa Kalu (SAN), at the resumed hearing on Wednesday, told Justice Mohammed Idris that he had filed a motion for no-case submission on behalf of his client, stating that the ex-governor had no case to answer with regard to the charges.
"A motion for no-case submission was filed on behalf of the 1st defendant on May 28 and it has been served on the prosecution,” Kalu added.
The other defence counsel, Chief Solo Akuma (SAN), and K. C. Nwofo (SAN), also informed the court that they had filed no-case submissions on behalf of the other defendants.
On his part, the EFCC’s counsel Adebisi Adeniyi, had drawn the court’s attention to an amended charge filed by the anti-graft agency before the commencement of proceedings.
"We did inform the court at the last adjourned date that we wanted to file an amended charge. "We have filed the amended charge this morning. We were also served with the defendants’ motion for no-case submission,” Adeniyi said.
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