By Our Reporter
Former Abia Governor Orji Uzor Kalu on Friday failed in his attempt to prevent the Federal Government from appealing a September 29, 2021, ruling by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had 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 Kalu and his company, Slok Nigeria Limited’s objection to the Federal Government’s application for leave to appeal the case out of time. The application was filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Kalu and Slok had argued, among other things, that after the Court of Appeal’s judgment on March 6, 2024, which struck out an earlier appeal by the Federal Government, the court had become functus officio and could no longer take further steps in the case.
However, Justice Ishaq Sanni, who delivered the rulings, clarified that the March 6, 2024 judgment did not address the substance of the appeal and was not a ruling on the merits of the case. He explained that the March judgment only struck out the appeal due to the improper certification of the record of appeal, as the Federal High Court official who certified the record failed to include their designation.
Justice Sanni ruled that since the March 6, 2024 decision was delivered after the three-month period for an aggrieved party to appeal had expired, the Federal Government was correct in filing its application for an extension of time to appeal.
He then granted an extension, ordering the Federal Government to file its notice of appeal against the September 29 judgment of the Federal High Court within 14 days.
The rulings pertained to 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).