…as court adjourns arraignment
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested the Federal High Court in Abuja to transfer the corruption case concerning a former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, to the Lagos division of the court.
Kalu, who is the current Chief Whip of the Senate, had earlier been convicted for allegedly stealing N7.1 billion fraud in Lagos before the conviction was set aside by the Supreme Court.
The case was later reassigned to Inyang Ekwo, a judge in the Abuja division and Tuesday was fixed for the re-arraignment of Mr Kalu and his co-defendant, Ude Udeogu.
The case was, however, adjourned till June 7 for further hearing.
Meanwhile, EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Chile Okoroma, while demanding the case to be transferred to Lagos, said that a pending letter had been sent to the Chief Judge of the court in order to facilitate the case back to Lagos.
“On January 20, 2021, the prosecution had written a letter to the CJ requesting the case file to be transferred to the Lagos division,” Mr Okoroma said
“We have also written a reminder dated February 2, to the Deputy Chief Registrar. The matter cannot proceed in Abuja if not it would be an exercise in futility,” Okoroma added.
The legal counsel also argued that the case was not committed in Abuja, saying that the appellate court had ruled that the case could not be heard in Abuja but Lagos.