New Twist as APC's Orji Kalu Admits He Was an Arms Dealer, Sold Heavy Weapons to Anyone With Money
- Senator Orji Kalu made a stunning admission during a live television interview on Monday, revealing he once traded in heavy weapons across multiple countries
- Kalu said he sold arms to buyers in the DRC, Namibia, and Libya under Muammar Gaddafi, insisting his only interest was making money
- The former Abia State governor also traced his close relationships with South African presidents to a friendship with the late Nelson Mandela
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Umuahia, Abia State - Senator Orji Kalu, who represents Abia North in the Nigerian Senate, has openly admitted that he was an international arms dealer before quitting the trade at his parents' request.
The former Abia State governor made the disclosure during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, November 9, while speaking about his long personal relationships with South African political leaders.
Source: Facebook
Kalu said his business interests once extended well beyond Nigeria and into the trade of heavy weapons sold across national borders. When the interviewer asked directly whether he was an arms dealer, he replied, "Yes, so I stopped because my…" before explaining that his parents were behind his decision to leave the business.
He said:
"But my parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped."
Kalu on who he sold arms to
When pressed on whether his weapons ended up being used to kill people, the former Abia State governor showed no remorse about the nature of the trade, saying only his profit mattered.
"No, no, no, no, no, no. I was selling guns to make money, whether they blow up it's not my business," he said.
He confirmed that he sold to buyers across several African countries, with payment being the only condition.
"No, I was selling to anybody who wants to buy. If you have the money, you want to buy in D.R.C, I sell to you, you want to buy in Namibia, you want to buy…" he said.
Asked whether he had supplied weapons to Libya's late leader, Muammar Gaddafi, Kalu did not deny it.
"To anybody that had money to buy," he replied. When the interviewer pointed out that this implied he had sold arms to Gaddafi, Kalu said, "May his soul rest in peace. He was a good man. If you have money to buy, when I was selling, I would sell to you."
Kalu refused to reveal where he sourced the weapons, saying simply, "It's only my business."
He also pushed back against suggestions that his former trade contributed to Nigeria's small arms problem, insisting the weapons he dealt in were heavy arms moved between governments, not street-level firearms.
"No, no, these are heavy arms that were sold country to country," he said.
Source: Twitter
Kalu's ties to South African leadership
During the same interview, Kalu spoke at length about his personal connections to a succession of South African presidents, saying the relationships began through the late Nelson Mandela.
He said Mandela introduced him to both former President Thabo Mbeki and current President Cyril Ramaphosa. Kalu also recounted that Mandela once told him Mbeki's father had contributed more to the anti-apartheid movement than Ramaphosa's father, and that this history influenced the ANC's choice of Mbeki as Mandela's running mate over Ramaphosa. Mbeki later introduced Kalu to former President Jacob Zuma, with the ties continuing through each subsequent administration.
Kalu threatens to dump APC
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Senator Kalu declared that he would resign from the All Progressives Congress (APC) if President Bola Tinubu ever disrespects the Catholic bishops or the opposition.
Kalu, a former Chief Whip of the Senate, made the declaration while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he dismissed claims that the President had insulted the Catholic Church amid recent controversy over remarks by Catholic leaders on the state of the nation.
The senator insisted that Tinubu maintained a cordial relationship with the Catholic Church, describing the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria as the conscience of the nation whose views should not be misconstrued as hostility towards the government.
Source: Legit.ng
