ABUJA — Fresh revelations emerged on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Gwarinpa, regarding how the former Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, allegedly took over the procurement functions of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).
Testifying before Justice Maryam Hassan, two key prosecution witnesses detailed how the ministry systematically absorbed the agency’s procurement operations, relying on an unverified “verbal” presidential directive.
Ngige, a former governor of Anambra State, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an eight-count charge bordering on abuse of office and contract fraud totaling N2,261,722,535.84. The anti-graft agency alleges that between 2015 and 2023, Ngige channeled multi-million naira contracts to his associates’ firms and corruptly accepted kicksbacks through his political campaign and scholarship organizations.
The ‘Verbal’ Presidential Mandate
During cross-examination by defense counsel Patrick Ikwueto, SAN, the Second Prosecution Witness (PW2), Ken Nwagha, a former Acting Managing Director of the NSITF, dropped a bombshell. He revealed that Ngige only informed him by word of mouth that a presidential directive authorized the Ministry of Labour to take over the NSITF’s procurement department.
”Mr. Ngige said it was a presidential report; I did not see any reason to doubt him,” Nwagha admitted, though he conceded he never saw a physical copy of the mandate.
The defense has maintained that a post-audit panel setup during the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari recommended the temporary transfer of procurement functions to the ministry for proper oversight. However, the EFCC has aggressively countered this claim, presenting a letter from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) asserting that the BPP retains sole legal jurisdiction over the NSITF’s contracting framework.
Shadow Committees and Threshold Breaches
Corroborating PW2’s testimony, the Third Prosecution Witness (PW3), Onwusoro Maduka Iheamelam—a former Director of Procurement at the NSITF and current Permanent Secretary—disclosed that Ngige formally wrote to the ministry’s permanent secretary in 2022 to finalize the absorption.
Iheamelam testified that a Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB) and a special Parastatal Tender Board Committee were consequently established to handle the operations. While he noted that the contractors evaluated technically held valid regulatory documents (such as CAC and tax clearances), the operational process circumvented established legal boundaries. He emphasized that under procurement regulations, contracts exceeding the strict approval thresholds of the parastatals were seamlessly routed to the ministry’s internal board for approval.
The EFCC’s charges paint a vivid picture of nepotism and financial misconduct. The prosecution notes that Ngige actively steered lucrative deals to entities tied to his close associates, including:
- Cezimo Nigeria Limited: Awarded over N366 million in contracts, while allegedly funneling N38.6 million back into the Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige Campaign Organisation bank account.
- Zitacom Nigeria Limited: Awarded eight contracts worth over N583 million.
- Jeff & Xris Limited: Benefited from contracts worth N362 million.
- Olde English Consolidated & Shale Atlantic: Awarded contracts worth N668 million and N161 million respectively.
Furthermore, previous testimonies highlighted blatant anomalies, such as an N80 million Makurdi office renovation contract that was allegedly inflated to N120 million and awarded to a company that did not even participate in the formal bidding process.
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Justice Hassan has adjourned the trial until July 2, 2026, for the continuation of cross-examination and the presentation of further evidence by the defense.
To gain a broader perspective on the initial courtroom events, you can watch this brief report on the Court remand of former minister Chris Ngige, which highlights the baseline allegations and his initial legal placement at the inception of this trial.
