By Gideon Njoku
For, allegedly, insulting former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Police thoroughly beat up former Governor of Abia State, who is now the Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu.
Kalu made this shocking claim at a Federal High Court, Lagos Division, on Wednesday, where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, dragged him to, before the Hon. Justice Mohammed Idris.
He is being tried for, allegedly, defrauding Abia state, when he was the governor, to the tune of N7.2 billion.
But while vehemently denying the allegation, Kalu said the state had no such amount of money for him to steal.
Giving the impression that he was richer than the state, he claimed that for the first six months of his regime, he ran the state with his personal money, a claim for which many Abia Stakeholders have given him 48 hours to withdraw because, according to them, not only is the claim a lie, it is insulting to the state and its people.
But Kalu insisted that the balance sheet of his company, SLOK, was better than that of the Nigeria Brewries PLC.
Meaning: the former governor is richer than NB PLC.
He also claimed that when Obasanjo came out from prison, having been jailed on trumped up charges by late Head of State, General Sani Abacha and, was drafted to run for the Presidency, he freely gave the former President, the sum of N100 million. He also disclosed that if the PDP was a company, he, Orji, would own 90 per cent of its shares.
On his ordeal in the hands of the EFCC, Senator Kalu revealed that he was treated very badly by the Commission.
Kalu: “When I learnt that they were looking for me, I called Ibrahim Lamorde that I was in the United States, and that I would show up upon my return to the country.
“But when I returned to Nigeria, they were waiting for me at the airport and, whisked me away to their office. After I was beaten up thoroughly by police officers, I asked them what my offence was, and they told me I had been insulting President Obasanjo. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Ibrahim Lamorde later came to apologise to me”
He, also, said that he made all his statements to the EFCC under bad treatment from some police officers.
Kalu’s lawyer is, Prof Awa Kalu, SAN.
Hearing in the case continues on Thursday.
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