Udeogu was docked alongside Kalu and his company, Slok Nigeria Ltd, on charges bordering on fraud by the EFCC
A former Commissioner for Finance in Abia State under the administration of Orji Uzor Kalu, Jones Udeogu, has said that he had no idea government officials were not supposed to bid for contracts from the government.
Udeogu made the statement before Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos on Wednesday during his ongoing trial for financial misappropriation together with Kalu to the tune of N7.6bn.
Udeogwu, who is the 2nd defendant in the ongoing trial, said he never knew that handling contracts was against civil service rules.
According to him, he had no direct contact with the former governor or take orders from him but from his Chief of Staff, who also managed Government House funds.
He said, “According to civil service rules, nobody can bypass the Chief of Staff to see or take orders from the governor.
“My duty then was just to work out the release of funds in any form either by cash or cheque from the accounts.
“Neither I nor any other staff of Government House paid any money into Slok account.
“We also did not receive any board resolution from Slok requesting for any money to be paid into Slok account.”
Udeogu was docked alongside Kalu and his company, Slok Nigeria Ltd, on charges bordering on fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The matter was adjourned till Thursday for further hearing by the court.