A former Governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, who is facing N7.6bn fraud charges, has taken exception to the claim by the prosecution that he has jumped bail and absconded.
Kalu, who was absent from his trial on September 10, said it was unfair that the prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), would urge the court to revoke his (Kalu’s) bail on the claim that he had absconded.
Stressing that he had respect for the judiciary and the rule of law, Kalu said the reason he was absent from court on September 10 was because he was held down in Germany where he had gone for an unspecified surgical operation.
The former governor berated Jacobs, who is the lawyer for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, for his “unfair and wicked” assertion, contending that the EFCC lawyer was “fond of using unprintable and unacceptable languages against my person.”
Kalu, according to his media aide, Kunle Oyewunmi, said this in a statement he issued from Germany.
He said, “I was very disappointed when I heard the statement credited to Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN).
“It is on record that since the commencement of this case in 2007, I have never been absent from court except the last sitting, which was beyond me.
“I have had to reschedule my surgery many times so as to be present in court at all times.
“My surgery was originally scheduled for August 1 but due to my appearance in court on July 31, I could not meet up with my surgical appointment.
“All my efforts to get a new date in August proved abortive as my doctor was on his annual family vacation and the earliest date granted was September 10.”
Kalu said the case having now been adjourned till September 20, he had had to reschedule his surgical appointment once again.
“I had to ask for my doctor’s advice, who did not hide his displeasure over incessant cancellations of the long overdue surgery and bluntly told me that once the operation is conducted, healing would not take less than five weeks and as such if I wanted to make the next court sitting, I had better, again, reschedule the surgical operation for September 24, based on his schedule,” he said.
