The Chief Whip of the Senate of Nigeria, orji kaluhe has said that Nigerians thought he was into money rituals because of a beautiful and expensive car he bought in 1982.
Mr Kalu, in a facebook post on Saturday, he said the car was the “last” Mercedes Benz. He gave no further information about the car.
“The then President Shehu Shagari was the only Nigerian who used the same car as at the time,” he said.
“I remember that every time I drove the car, some would look at it admiringly while some would spread rumors that I was engaged in money rituals.”
Kalu said Nigerians should “stop playing with the blackmail” that money motivates him in politics.
“If it’s really about money as it spreads, then I already have everything I would need,” the senator said.
“While I was governor, I never bought a new house. I’ve lost more money being in politics. I replaced a military administrator and those who knew of Abia’s condition before 1999 will have a better understanding of the level of work we did before we left the government in 2007.
“As of today, I can even decide to resign as a senator because I spend my private money to invent many things while serving the people.
“Unfortunately, Nigeria is a country where people who have done no business except holding public office are hailed, while those who have worked hard all their lives creating wealth and employing people are insulted.”
Senator Kalu repeated what he used to say in the past: that he financed the then ruling party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 with 500 million naira and also gave the PDP’s presidential candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo, 100 million of naira.
“I became an employer of labor at a young age and have consistently remained so.
“I have worked hard all my life and the best thing you can do is study people and try to be better than them. Because the life we live is not just for us but for God and then to accommodate other people,” he added.
Mr. Kalu, a former Governor of Abia State who now represents Abia North District, posted a photo of himself standing in front of his home in the US alongside his comment.
“Saying goodbye to my childhood friend, Chief Emeka Eboh, after I invited him to lunch at my residence, Camp Neso, Potomac, USA,” the senator said in an earlier Facebook post, with photos of the House.
Kalu loves to talk about how rich he was before he joined Nigerian politics.
During an interview with AriseTV in January, he said that he started transporting palm oil from the south to the north of Nigeria, specifically to Maiduguri, when he was a student at the University of Maiduguri.
The senator said he met Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari when they were both senior army officers, but did not reveal how the two men, who later ruled Nigeria, helped him further his business interests.
He said that he was involved in the mass importation of sugar and rice at some point in his life, and that he was a strong competitor of Aliko Dangote, the man who is the richest man in Africa today.
“I was one of the largest importers of rice and sugar. For me, making money is an art,” Kalu said. “Then I started building industries in Aba and Ota.”
Kalu has investments in the media: he owns the Sun and Telegraph newspapers.
N7.65 billion fraud trial
The former governor, accused of embezzling funds belonging to the Abia state, was convicted of 7.65 billion naira fraud in 2019 and sent to prison, but the conviction was later overturned by the High Court which ordered a new trial.
Mr. Kalu is still on trial, he is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
When the AriseTV team asked the senator about his trial, he said he was too rich to suddenly become a thief in Nigeria.
“Everyone, including you, Reuben (Abati), knows me before 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, they know that I financed everything, all the money that politicians paid during that period, they know that I was the one who brought the money in the PPD . So how can I suddenly become a thief?” he said.
The senator said the fraud story against him was a media creation.
However, he did not want his interviewees to pursue the matter further. “I’m not supposed to discuss matters in court,” she said.