At a point of his life, Orji Uzor Kalu was the youngest Governor in Nigeria as a Governor of Abia State, Eastern Nigeria. He was one of Governor who openly opposed and criticized the then President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and his style of governance. Immediately after his tenure elapsed as Governor in 2007, He recoiled back into his shell even after installing in stooge Theodore Orji as successor.
Fast forward to 2015, when President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as President of Nigeria, those who had skeleton in their closet started running helter skelter for the fear of being jailed for previous corrupt acts. One of those people is the chairman of Slok Airline. He has been dragged before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over several count charges mainly for mis-use of public funds and money laundry. At the heat of his face-off with the EFCC, he defected to the ruling All progressive Congress (APC) seeking for a soft landing over his case.
When some former Governors like; Jolly Nyame, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, Joshua Dariye among others, were jailed by Buhari’s administration for corruption, Orji Uzor is scared of meeting his Waterloo, after the EFCC added to his count charge making it 39 count charge. He also lost his ”No Case Submission” appeal, which is also an indication that he might be jailed if found guilty by the court.
Many political pundit divulged that; despite his consultation for President Buhari’s 2nd term bid and his reconciliation move across the APC in Nigeria, it does not stop the law from taking it’s full cause. According to a close source who divulged to CITYSPY that; ”From all indications, Orji Uzor Kalu is on the verge of going to jail. You know that President Buhari has zero tolerance for corruption and Uzor Kalu’s case won’t be an exception. President Buhari does not want any corrupt person to dent his image that’s why he has been telling the EFCC and judiciary to do their work with due diligence. Most times Orji Uzor visits Aso-rock to see Buhari over his case, he is not allowed to see Mr President. So that’s why he had travelled to Daura, Katsina state to see President Buhari during the Salah celebration alongside other state Governors.”
However, another close source who claimed anonymity further divulged that; ”Uzor Kalu is lobbying to be the Presidential candidate for APC in 2023. The current agitation of allowing the Eastern Nigeria produce a president might be fruitful by then. But according to political permutations, if Uzor Kalu scale though his current case, If not the presidential flagbearer, he might be offered to run as a vice presidential candidate.”
