The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has upheld the dismissal of the ‘no-case submission’ filed by a former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, in response to the N7.65bn fraud charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In a lead judgment by Justice Mohammed Garba, the Court of Appeal agreed that Justice Mohammed Idris, then of the Federal High Court in Lagos, was right to have on July 31, 2018, dismissed Kalu’s no-case submission and ordered him to put in his defence.

The appellate court also dismissed the appeals filed by Kalu’s co-defendants, Slok Nigeria Limited and Ude Udeogu, challenging the jurisdiction of Justice Idris to continue hearing the case after he was elevated from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal.