Why we didn't declare Kalu’s seat vacant – Senate President
Recall that the
Senate Chief Whip was convicted and sentenced last December for embezzling N7.1
billion of state funds while he was the Governor of Abia State.
Lawan who explained
why they refused to declare Orji Uzor Kalu's seat vacant when leaders from Abia
State paid him a courtesy visit, said it was not only extraordinary but “the
right and just thing for the Senate to do.” He added that no one could convince
the lawmakers to give the seat to someone else because it was not vacant.
The Senate President
said;
“He (Kalu) was on
several appeals and until he exhausted all the opportunities available to him,
that seat remained his seat. Similarly the position of the Chief Whip, we
didn’t even appoint an acting Chief Whip. The Deputy Chief Whip continued to
play that role until he was released.
“We came under
pressure, of course. But we thought the right thing to do was to keep that
seat, that position until he was able to get his judgement. It would have been
premature, unjust and unfair to declare his seat vacant or his position to be
given away because he was in that situation.
“So we didn’t do
anything extraordinary really. We did what was right, what was just, what was
necessary.”
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