Former Abia Governor Orji Uzor Kalu suffered a setback on Friday in his attempt to prevent the Federal Government from appealing the September 29, 2021, ruling by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which halted his prosecution on a N7.1 billion money laundering charge.
In two separate rulings on Friday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal rejected the objection raised by Kalu and his company, Slok Nigeria Limited, to the Federal Government’s application for leave to appeal out of time. The application had been filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Kalu and Slok argued, among other points, that the Court of Appeal had already become functus officio after delivering a judgment on March 6, 2024, which struck out an earlier appeal by the Federal Government. They contended that the court could no longer take further action on the case.
However, Justice Ishaq Sanni, who delivered the rulings on Friday, clarified that the March 6, 2024 judgment did not address the substance of the appeal and was not a judgment on the merits. He explained that the March ruling only struck out the appeal because the record of appeal was not properly certified, as the official from the Federal High Court who certified it had failed to include their designation.
Justice Sanni concluded that since the March 6, 2024, judgment was delivered after the three-month period allowed for an appeal, the Federal Government was right to file for an extension of time to appeal. He then granted the extension and ordered the Federal Government to file its notice of appeal within 14 days.
The rulings pertained to the appeals marked CA/ABJ/PRE/ROA/CV/430MI/2024 (FRN v. Orji Uzor Kalu and two others) and CA/ABJ/PRE/ROA/CV/431MI/2024 (FRN v. Slok Nigeria Limited and two others).
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