TheCable

Like its counterpart in the senate, the house of representatives leadership has paid a solidarity visit to Orji Uzor Kalu, senate chief whip, who was recently convicted of fraud.

The principal officers of the house, who were led by Idris Wase, the deputy speaker, told Kalu at his Abuja residence on Monday that they had come to sympathise with him on his experience in prison.

Wase told Kalu that he should see his conviction and jail term as “one of those things”, and that such an experience is a badge of honour for politicians.

“We are here to sympathise with you on what happened and your incarceration. As a politician, I want you to take it as one of those things,” he said.

“First, we congratulate you and urge you to put everything before God and believe it is part of destiny. My leader, the late Chief Solomon Lar, told me not to fear, as a politician, to go to prison.

“He told me that going to prison is a badge of honour. If you are a good politician, you should be willing to taste prison experience because it will come to you in very many dimensions.

“That happened to us sometime in the past when we were being chased and humiliated, and he asked us to be resolute and face the issues as they were. He reminded us of how he was sentenced to over 90 to 150 years in prison. He told us that as leaders, there is always a judgement that could be passed.

“As our leader, we want you to appreciate what God has done for you; use it for the positive development of our country’s judicial system; use it in the interest of humanity.”

Kalu, a former governor of Abia state who was released from prison in June, was convicted by a federal high court in Lagos.

He was convicted for money laundering to the tune of N7.1 billion and was jailed in December, but the supreme court nullified his conviction and ordered a fresh trial.