‘Please Don’t Handcuff Me, I Will Follow You’, Shaken Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor-Kalu Begs Prison Warders
- Uzor-Kalu wept as Judge reads the judgement.
- The former Abia governor has been sentenced to twelve years in prison.
Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor-Kalu, has begged prison warders not to handcuff him public after he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud amounting to N7.6bn.
The former Abia State Governor has suggested that he has a role to play in the national politics of 2023. This was done with a smile at reporters and said, ‘2023, here we come’ as he was led out of the courtroom by Correctional Services officials after his sentencing.
Justice Mohammed Idris delivered the judgement after he was prosecuted on 27 counts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
READ: N7.6bn Fraud: Court Finds Former Abia Governor, Orji Uzor-Kalu Guilty
His co-defendants, his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited, was ordered to be wound up and its assets forfeited to the Federal Government while Udeh Udeogu, who was Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia State Government House during his tenure as governor was also sentenced to10 years in prison.
After the sentence, he was asking prison warders, “where are you taking us to?” and then begged them not to handcuff him in public.
Shaken by the judgement, he said, “Where are you taking us to now? Please don’t handcuff me. I will follow you.”
While in the court, Kalu, who represents Abia North Senatorial District, wiped tears from his eyes with a white handkerchief when the judge began reading an abridged version of the 228-page judgment.
The case started two years ago when they were first arraigned for the offenses before a different judge.
In an amended 39 counts, the EFCC proved that they conspired and diverted N7.65bn from the coffers of the Abia State.
