Senator Orji Kalu has finally returned to the Senate days after his release from Kuje prison.
The Senate president, Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday, June 9, reportedly officially welcomed Kalu back to the Upper Chamber.
Senator Kalu’s 12-year conviction for alleged looting of N7.65b was nullified by the Supreme Court while a retrial was ordered.
Senator Kalu who is the Chief Whip of the Senate was recently released from the Nigeria Correctional Service Centre and he is back to his former position to continue his service at the chamber.
Senior lawmakers visited Kalu, the chief whip of the Senate, following his release from prison on Wednesday, June 3. The former governor of Abia state was released after months of incarceration at the Kuje Custodial Centre. Kalu was convicted in December 2019 for alleged looting of N7.65b belonging to Abia State. His conviction was, however, nullified by the Supreme Court while a retrial was ordered.
However, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has described prison experience as a wonderful sojourn which can be likened to a ‘badge of honour’ for the politician. The lawmaker made this known during a courtesy visit to Senator Kalu upon his release from the Kuje prison.
Represented by his deputy Ahmed Idris who led other principal officers to the house of the senator, Gbajabiamila said the leadership of the lower chamber was in sympathy with Kalu who he described as a man of destiny.
He urged Kalu to take his experience as a life’s lesson and put everything before God, adding that we are just players in the game of fate. “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,” the speaker said.
