A prosecution witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court that former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, did not interfere with procurement processes in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, a key issue in his ongoing trial over an alleged ₦80 million fraud.
Ngige is facing an eight-count charge bordering on alleged abuse of office.
The charges include five counts of allegedly conferring undue advantage on five companies said to be linked to his associates, and three counts relating to the alleged receipt of ₦38 million and ₦42 million through the Sen. Chris Ngige Foundation Scholarship Scheme and the Sen. Chris Ngige Campaign Organisation.
The former Anambra State governor has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Testifying before Justice Marian Hassan of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, the EFCC witness, Dr. Maduka Onwusoro, said there was no undue influence or interference by Ngige during the period the procurement process of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) was domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment between 2021 and 2022.
Onwusoro, now a Permanent Secretary, told the court that he served as Director of Procurement in the ministry from 2019 to 2023 and explained that procurement activities were handled by the Parastatal Tenders Board (PTB) and the Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB) in accordance with due process.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Chief Paul Ikwueto (SAN), the witness identified his approval annotations on a document tendered by the prosecution and affirmed that all the companies approved by the Ministerial Tenders Board met the required standards.
He also testified that there was no undue interference or influence by anyone in the award of the contracts.
Ngige is accused of conferring undue advantage on companies including Zitacom Ltd, Shale Atlantic Ltd and Olde English Consolidated Ltd.
However, the witness told the court that, as the official responsible for supervising procurement activities, he was never subjected to pressure regarding the award of contracts to any of the companies.
He also recalled that during his earlier testimony on Thursday, he stated that two other companies—Cezimo Ltd and Jeff & Xris Ltd—also emerged successful through due process after meeting the pre-qualification requirements and submitting the lowest bids.
During Friday’s proceedings, the defence sought to tender documents containing approvals and directives allegedly issued by former President Muhammadu Buhari to the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Ngige.
The prosecution objected, arguing that the documents were not properly certified by the Human Resources Department of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, in line with a Supreme Court decision on the certification of public documents.
Following the objection, the defence withdrew its application to tender the documents.
Justice Hassan subsequently adjourned the case until October 14, 2026, for the continuation of the hearing.
0 Comments