The Peoples Democratic Party stakeholders in Abia State on Wednesday faulted a former governor of the state, Orji Kalu, over his claim that he personally funded the state for the first six months of his tenure as governor in 1999.
While giving his testimony at the resumed hearing of a case of N7.6bn alleged fraud instituted against him before a Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, Kalu had said that within the first six months of his first tenure, he governed the state with his personal money, adding that he could not have stolen what was not in existence.
But speaking on behalf of the PDP stakeholders in the state in Abuja on Wednesday, a party chieftain, Mathew Ibe, asked the former governor to apologise to the people of the state within 48 hours.
Ibe described Kalu’s statement as derogatory, hence the need for him to apologise to the people of the state.
He said if he failed to apologise, the party stakeholders would brief the national leadership of the party on Thursday in Abuja on the next line of action to be taken against the former governor.
The party chief said Kalu’s claim in his defence on the amended 39 counts of money laundering was capable of dragging the name of the state in the mud.
“We demand an apology from Kalu within 48 hours or we will drag him to court for breach of public peace because right now, our people are not happy with his claim,” Ibe said.
He said contrary to the former governor’s claim, his firm which was also joined as co-defendant could not be described as a flourishing one as of the time he assumed office as the state governor.
He, therefore, called on the former governor to face the substance of his trial and stop portraying the state, which he once governed, in a bad light.
