Our reporter/ Tearful former Abia state governor and senate chief whip, Orji Uzor Kalu on Saturday at the valedictory session of the ninth senate declared told lawmakers that he is not a thief, and that the country has not been fair to him.
Kanu was arraigned alongside Jones Udeogu, a former director of finance and accountant in Abia state by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 36 counts of money laundering to the tune of N7.1 billion.
On December 5, 2019, Kalu was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment while Udeogu got a 10-year sentence.
The supreme court later nullified the trial of Kalu and his co-convict on technical grounds and ordered a retrial.
Speaking at the upper chambers valedictory session on Saturday, Kalu said before he ventured into politics, he was wealthy and played a critical role financially in the formation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Before I came into politics, I could buy anything money can buy. I’m not a thief,” he said in tears.
“Those that put me in prison know the reason. They took over my businesses and wanted to kill me yet I survived it and I’m in the senate with you.
“I have never lacked. While I was in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where I served for two terms as governor, I brought the money that they used in forming that party, every penny, in 1997 and 1998, and I later became a thief.
“People I gave transport money from my house in VI became agents. This is what Nigeria represents. Thank you for giving me these four years of uninterrupted support.
“This country is not fair.”
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