Orji Uzor Kalu: Pro-Buhari Group Says Anti-Corruption War In Full Swing

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has commended the court sentencing of the Chief Whip of the Nigeria Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, to 12-years imprisonment for N7.56 billion fraud.

Naija News reports that the Federal High Court in Lagos found the former governor of Abia state guilty of all the 39-count charges filed against him.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had charged the senator with N7.65billion fraud while in office as the Abia State governor between 1999 and 2007.

Kalu was convicted alongside his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited and his former director of finance, Ude Udeogu.

The court also ordered forfeiture of all assets of his company to the federal government.

Reacting in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju in Abuja on Thursday, BMO noted that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) refused to shield the former Abia State governor.

The pro-President Muhammadu Buhari group accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its supporters of casting aspersion on the anti-corruption crusade, especially in the run-up to the 2019 elections.

According to the BMO, the PDP claimed that all politicians seeking protection from trial joined the ruling APC.

The group said: “This speaks for the focus and uncompromising nature of the administration, and if a high ranking senator is in jail, then clearly a message has been sent out on the rule of law.

“So if there was any doubt about President Muhammadu Buhari’s sincerity, then the fact that a ranking member of his party has been sentenced to a 12-year jail term is proof that such doubts had been unfounded.

“We hope that the judgment delivered by Justice Muhammad Idris of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, would clear all doubts about the seriousness of the anti-graft crusade.”