By Abiola Olawale
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out the Federal Government’s appeal to retry the former governor of Abia and the senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, in the N7.6bn fraud lawsuit instituted against him.
In the decision anchored on a technical ground, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal said the records of proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja were not properly compiled and transmitted to the appellate court for adjudication.
Justice Joseph Oyewole, in his lead judgment referred to the Court of Appeal procedural rules and section 104 of the Evidence Act, which says it was mandatory for a public officer in custody of the records of the trial court’s proceedings to certify at the foot of such documents that were tendered before the court.
Justice Oyewole held that the record brought by the government was not reliable for the request to be granted. According to him, the record of appeal brought was not compiled, signed, and certified by any person known to law.
Oyewole said: “The record of an appeal brought by the federal government was incompetent and unreliable for any court to use to grant the request of the government.”
The New Diplomat reports that Kalu has been facing trial since 2007, on 36 counts of money laundering to the tune of N7.1 billion.
On December 5, 2019, Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court sentenced the former governor to 12 years in prison for allegedly stealing public funds while in office.
Also, the Abia State Government House Director of Finance and Accounts during Kanu’s tenure, Ude Udeogu, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the offense.
Dissatisfied with the judgment of the Federal High Court, Kalu, and Udeogu filed an appeal to challenge their sentencing at the apex court.
The court of appeal also upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court.
However, the seven-man panel of justices at the apex court held that the judgment of the trial court was null because Idris (the trial judge) lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.
The apex court held that Idris who had been elevated to the court of appeal at the time of judgment lacked powers to preside over a matter at the federal high court.
Idris was elevated to the Court of Appeal in June 2018.
