After spending five months in Prison before having his conviction overturned, former Governor of Abia State, and Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu says he want to propose changes to the Criminal Justice Act.
Orji Uzor Kalu is proposing several amendments to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) of 2015 one month after he was released from the Kuje Correctional Centre on the order of the Supreme Court.
The bill titled, Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (amendment) bill 2020 was introduced on the floor of the senate by the Clerk, Nelson Ayewoh on Wednesday.
While the details of the bill has not been made public, there are speculations that it may have to do with de-congestion of correctional facilities across the country, especially the Kuje correctional centre where the former governor had been incarcerated.
He had been convicted alongside a former director of finance and accounts in Abia, Ude Jones Udeogu of laundering N7.1 billion. His conviction had been overturned by the Supreme Court on the grounds that the trial judge, Mohammed Idris did not have jurisdiction to hear the case having been elevated to the Appeal Court.
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Upon his release from Prison, Kalu lamented the high rate of incarcerated inmates who are awaiting trial. He said at the time;
“I shall be dedicating my time henceforth to ensuring there will be justice for all Nigerians whether they are in Sokoto or Akwa Ibom or in Lagos or Maiduguri or in Jos or Enugu, or wherever they may be.
“A system whereby over 70% of all prison inmates’ population is made up of people awaiting trial cannot be allowed to continue. Situations where innocent people are falsely charged with murder just to get them out of the way does not dignify our country and cannot continue. Justice must now mean justice for all. That is my pledge to Nigerians.”