Justice Anwuri Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed May 16 to arraign ex-Abia State Governor Orji Kalu.
Appearing with Kalu is the ex-Director of Finance in the State House, Udeh Jones Udeogu, and Slok Nigeria Limited, owned by the former governor.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought a 112 amended charge against them.
EFCC accused Kalu and the others of diverting the state’s funds estimated at about N5.6 billion while they were in office between 1999 and 2007.
The three are to be re-arraigned on the amended charge about seven years after they appeared on a similar charge before Justice Adamu Bello (now retired from the Federal High Court).
Kalu, Slok and Udeogu were first arraigned on July 27, 2007 on a 96-count charge. The EFCC, on February 11, 2008, amended the charge to112 counts.
The defendants challenged the competence of the charge and lost. They also lost at the Supreme Court which, on March 18, dismissed their appeal and ordered them to submit themselves for trial.
Kalu and Udeogu were in court yesterday when the case was called for mention. Dressed in white native attire, Kalu mounted the dock, accompanied by Udeogu.
Prosecution lawyer Oluwaleke Atolagbe handed a copy of the Supreme Court judgment to Justice Chikere and sought time for the prosecution to put its house in order.
Kalu’s lawyer Awa Kalu (SAN) and Solomon Akuma (SAN), who represented Udeogu and Slok, did not oppose the prosecution’s request for adjournment, following which the judge adjourned till May 16 to take defendants’ plea.
A five-man panel at the Supreme Court, while dismissing the appeals by Kalu and Udeogu on March 18, upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which also dismissed an earlier appeal by the defendants.
