Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, has disclosed that he previously engaged in the international trade of heavy weapons, saying he sold arms to buyers in different countries before abandoning the business at the insistence of his parents.
Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, made the disclosure during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, November 9, 2026, while discussing his business background and relationships with prominent African political leaders.
When asked directly whether he had been an arms dealer, the senator answered in the affirmative but explained that he eventually stopped after his parents intervened.
He said: “But my parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped.”
Asked whether he considered how the weapons might be used by purchasers, including whether they could be used to kill people, Kalu said his motivation at the time was to make money.
“I was selling guns to make money, whether they blow up, it’s not my business,” he said.
The senator also denied that his former arms business was limited to supplying the African National Congress (ANC) during South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. He maintained that he sold weapons to anyone who could afford them, regardless of the country involved.
“If you have the money, you want to buy in D.R.C, I sell to you, you want to buy in Namibia…” he said.
When asked about the sources of the weapons, Kalu declined to disclose details, describing the information as his private business.
He also clarified that the weapons involved in his former dealings were heavy military equipment traded between countries, rather than small firearms.
“No, these are heavy arms that were sold country to country,” he explained.
During the interview, the senator was asked whether he had supplied weapons to Libya under its late leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Kalu did not confirm any specific transaction but maintained that he would sell to anyone with the financial capacity to purchase the weapons during the period he was involved in the business.
“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,” he said.
Kalu did not disclose when he operated the arms business, the companies involved, the volume of weapons traded, the identities of specific buyers or the regulatory arrangements under which the transactions were conducted.
Beyond his account of his former business activities, the senator also discussed his relationships with successive South African leaders, which he traced to his friendship with former President Nelson Mandela.
According to Kalu, Mandela introduced him to several prominent South African political figures, including former President Thabo Mbeki and current President Cyril Ramaphosa. He also said Mbeki later introduced him to former President Jacob Zuma.
His disclosure about his former arms dealings has drawn attention to the nature of the international weapons trade he described, particularly the questions surrounding its scale, buyers and regulatory framework.
