Orji Uzor Kalu

Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu was convicted by the Federal High Court Lagos on 5 December 2019 on a 39-count N7.65bn fraud charge and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment by Justice Mohammed Idris. The Supreme Court (Ejembi Eko JSC leading a seven-member panel under CJN Tanko Muhammad) set the conviction aside on 8 May 2020 on jurisdictional grounds — Justice Idris had been elevated to the Court of Appeal in June 2018 and lacked authority to deliver the December 2019 verdict; a retrial was ordered. On 29 September 2021 Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja barred the EFCC from retrying Kalu, holding that the apex court's retrial order named only co-defendant Ude Jones Udeogu. The Court of Appeal struck out the FG's challenge on 6 March 2024 on procedural defects; the EFCC subsequently obtained leave to refile, and the appeal remains pending. Kalu was re-elected to the Senate for Abia North on the APC ticket in 2023.