The Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Orji Kalu, has said that Nigerians thought he was into money rituals because of a beautiful and costly car he bought in 1982.
Mr Kalu, in a Facebook post on Saturday, said the car was the “latest” Mercedes Benz. He did not give more information about the car.
“The then President Shehu Shagari was the only Nigerian using the same car as at that time,” he said.
“I recall that whenever I drove the car, some would look at it with admiration while a few were spreading rumors that I was into money rituals.”
Mr Kalu said Nigerians should “stop entertaining the blackmails” that money is motivating him in politics.
“If it’s actually about money as propagated, then I already have all I would ever need,” the senator said.
“While I was governor, I never bought a new home. I have lost more money being into politics. I took over from a military administrator and those who knew the condition of Abia before 1999 will have a better understanding of the level of work we did before leaving government in 2007.
“As of today, I can decide to even resign as a senator because I spend my private money to make up a lot of things while serving the people.
“Nigeria is unfortunately 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 called names.”
Senator Kalu repeated what he often said in the past – that he bankrolled the then ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 with N500 million and also gave the PDP presidential candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo, N100 million.
“I became an employer of labour at an early age and have steadily continued to be.
“I have worked hard all my life and the best you can do is to study people and try to be better than them. For the life we live is not for ourselves alone but for God and to then accommodate other people,” he added.
Mr Kalu, a former governor of Abia State who now represents Abia North District, posted alongside his comment, a photo of himself standing in front of his house in the U.S.
“Seeing off my childhood friend, Chief Emeka Eboh after I hosted him for lunch at my residence, Camp Neso, Potomac, USA,” the senator said in a previous post on Facebook, with photos of the house.
Mr Kalu loves talking about how wealthy he was before he joined Nigerian politics.
During an interview with AriseTV in January, he said he started moving palm oil from southern to northern Nigeria, specifically to Maiduguri, when he was a student at the University of Maiduguri.
The senator said he ran into Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari when both were top officers in the army, but he did not disclose how the two men, who later ruled Nigeria, helped him to advance his business interests.
He said he was into massive importation of sugar and rice at some point in his life, and that he was a strong competitor with Aliko Dangote, the man who is Africa’s richest man today.
“I was one of the largest importers of rice and sugar. For me, making money is an art,” Mr Kalu said. “Then I started building industries in Aba and Ota.”
Mr Kalu has investments in the media – he owns the Sun and the Telegraph newspapers.
The former governor, accused of mismanaging funds belonging to Abia State, was convicted of N7.65 billion fraud in 2019 and sent to prison, but the conviction was later nullified by the Supreme Court which ordered a fresh trial.
Mr Kalu is still standing trial, he is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
When the AriseTV crew asked the senator about his trial, he said he was too wealthy to suddenly become a thief in Nigeria.
“Everybody, even you Reuben (Abati), you know me pre-1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, you know I bankrolled everything, all the money politicians paid during that period, you know I was the one who brought the money in the PDP. So, how can I become a thief suddenly?” he said.
The senator said the fraud story against him was a creation of the media.
He did not, however, want his interviewees to press on with the matter. “I am not supposed to talk about matters in court,” he said.