TheCable

Mao Ohuabunwa, a former senator representing Abia north, says Uzor Orji Kalu, senate chief whip, has a case to answer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and therefore should not be senate president.

Kalu defeated Ohuabunwa to become the senator representing Abia north in 2019.

In March, Kalu declared that it is his turn to be senate president, and asked the All Progressives Congress (APC), his party, to zone the office to the south-east.

The EFCC had arraigned the former Abia governor and Ude Jones Udeogu, a former director of finance and accountant, 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-convicts.

The apex court held that Mohammed Idris, the trial judge who had been elevated to the court of appeal at the time of the case, ought not to have presided over the matter while he was an appeal court judge.

Speaking on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, on Monday, Ohuabunwa said Kalu is not competent to hold office.

“I will feel terrible because I don’t believe that he is competent to represent the senate,” the former senator said.

“He has not won the election, so I wouldn’t want a senate president that will be removed tomorrow. He has so much baggage with him.

“He still has an EFCC case in court. Don’t forget that he was convicted. He wasn’t discharged. I am wondering why the EFCC is still holding back on that prosecution.”