Kalu made the revelation during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, while discussing his business background and relationships with successive South African leaders.
Asked directly whether he had been an arms dealer, the former Abia State governor answered in the affirmative, explaining that he traded in heavy weapons across national borders.
He said his decision to leave the business followed intervention by his parents, who urged him to abandon the trade.
“But my parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped,” he said.
Kalu also dismissed suggestions that he was concerned about how buyers intended to use the weapons, insisting that his motivation at the time was commercial.
“No, no, no, no, no, no. I was selling guns to make money, whether they blow up, it’s not my business,” he said.
When asked whether he supplied weapons to the African National Congress (ANC) during its struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Kalu said he did not restrict his business to any particular group.
He maintained that he sold to any buyer who could afford the weapons, regardless of the country involved.
“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 reveal where he sourced the weapons, describing the information as a private business matter.
“It’s only my business,” he said.
Asked whether he had supplied small arms, particularly in view of concerns about the proliferation of illegal weapons and insecurity across Africa, Kalu insisted that the weapons he traded were heavy arms sold between countries.
“No, these are heavy arms that were sold country to country,” he said.
He was also asked whether he sold weapons to Libya under its former leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Kalu responded that he sold to anyone with the money to buy.
When the interviewer suggested that this meant he had supplied 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.”
Kalu recounts ties with South African leaders
The senator also traced his relationships with several South African leaders to his friendship with the country’s late former president, Nelson Mandela.
According to Kalu, Mandela introduced him to other prominent figures in South African politics, including former President Thabo Mbeki and incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He recalled an account in which Mandela reportedly explained that Mbeki’s father had made a greater contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle than Ramaphosa’s father. Kalu said this was a factor in the ANC’s decision to select Mbeki over Ramaphosa as Mandela’s running mate.
Kalu further said Mbeki later introduced him to former South African President Jacob Zuma.
