The trial of the former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, continued on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, before Justice M.A. Hassan of the Federal Capital Territory, High Court, Gwarinpa, Abuja, with two prosecution witnesses affirming that the defendant transferred the functions of the procurement department of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund NSITF to his ministry.
Ngige is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on an eight-count charge, bordering on abuse of office and fraudulent contract award to the tune of N2,261,722,535.84 (Two billion, Two Hundred and Sixty-one Million, Seven Hundred and Twenty-two Thousand, Five Hundred and Thirty-five naira, Eighty-four kobo).
The Second Prosecution Witness, PW2, Ken Nwagha, a former acting Managing Director of NSITF, while under cross-examination by defence counsel, P.I.N. Ikwueto, SAN, disclosed that the defendant, while transferring the NSITF’s procurement department to his ministry, only informed him by word of mouth that there was a presidential directive authorising his action.
The position of PW2 was reinforced by the Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Onwusoro Maduka Iheamelam, a permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Testifying under the guidance of the prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, the PW3, who served as director of procurement in NSITF as well as in various ministries, disclosed that the defendant, in 2022, wrote to the permanent secretary conveying the absorption of the functions of NSITF’s procurement department by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. He further stated that, as the then director of procurement in NSITF, he communicated the directive to NSITF’s Managing Director on behalf of the Permanent Secretary.
Having served as director of procurement in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and being a member of its Ministerial Tenders Board, MTB, from 2019 to 2023, he stated that procurement regulations prescribed contract thresholds for the Parastatals Tender Board, PTB, and that of the MTB, disclosing that contracts that fell outside the approval threshold of the PTB were referred to the MTB.
Justice Hassan adjourned the matter till July 2, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.
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