Senator Orji Kalu, representing Abia North in the National Assembly, has revealed that he was previously involved in the international arms trade, explaining that he sold heavy weapons to buyers who could afford them before leaving the business at his parents’ request.

Kalu made the disclosure during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, November 9, 2026, while speaking about his connections with prominent political figures in South Africa.

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The former Abia State governor confirmed that he had dealt in arms, adding that his activities involved heavy weapons traded between countries rather than small firearms.

He said he eventually abandoned the business after his parents expressed strong opposition to his involvement.

According to him, both his mother and father insisted that he stop trading in weapons, a request he said he honoured.

Kalu explained that his decision to leave the business followed his parents’ intervention, although he did not disclose how long he had been involved in the trade.

During the interview, he was asked whether he had sold weapons to people who intended to use them to kill others.

In response, the senator said his primary motivation at the time was making money, rather than determining how buyers would use the weapons.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

I was selling guns to make money, whether they blow up it’s not my business, he stated.

He also dismissed the suggestion that his arms business was restricted to supplying the African National Congress (ANC) during its struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

Kalu maintained that he was willing to sell to any buyer with the financial capacity to purchase the weapons, regardless of their country.

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.

The senator declined to identify his sources of weapons, describing such information as private business details.

He further clarified that the weapons involved were heavy arms sold from one country to another, rather than the small firearms commonly associated with individual ownership.

“No, these are heavy arms that were sold country to country,” he said.

Asked whether he had supplied weapons to Libya during the administration of its late leader, Muammar Gaddafi, Kalu reiterated that he sold to anyone who could afford to buy.

When the interviewer suggested that his response implied he had sold arms to Gaddafi, the senator replied: 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.

Beyond his comments on the arms trade, Kalu spoke about his relationship with former South African President Nelson Mandela and other leading figures in the country’s political history.

He said his friendship with Mandela provided an opportunity to meet several prominent South African politicians, including former President Thabo Mbeki and incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa.

According to Kalu, Mandela once told him that Mbeki’s father had made a greater contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle than Ramaphosa’s father.

He claimed that the explanation influenced the ANC’s decision to choose Mbeki rather than Ramaphosa as Mandela’s running mate.

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Kalu added that Mbeki later introduced him to former South African President Jacob Zuma, describing his relationships with the country’s political leaders as extending across different administrations.