A major EFCC prosecution witness today at a Federal Capital Territory Court presided by Justice Marian Hassan again told the court that there was no UNDUE influence,nor interference by the former Minister of Labour & Employment, Senator Dr Chris Ngige CON during the 12 months period that the NSITF Procurement was domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2021/2022.
The Procurement activities in the Parastatal's Tenders Board (PTB ) and the Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB) performed their activities with due process and no hindrance.
The witness Dr Maduka Onwusoro,now a Permanent Secretary said he served as Director of Procurement in the Labour Ministry 2019 2pto 2023,with his Deputy, Ms Joyce Akponor who was later deployed to NSITF on their request to man the needs of the various departments ,collate bids and foward for PTB and MTB awards between 2021-2022
Under Cross Examination by Lead defence Counsel PIN Ikwueto SAN the witness took a look at an Exhibit tendered by the Prosecution, he then affirmed that the approval annotation made on the document were his and affirmed that all the companies recommended and approval by the MTB in the document were done on merit and that there was no UNDUE interference or influence by anyone. Three 3 coys that the Ex -Minister was being accused of conferring UNDUE advantage Messrs Zitacom Ltd,Shale Atlantic ,and Olde English Consolidated ltd were on the list with many other companies. The witness said as overall supervisor of Procurement activities no pressure was brought on him in connection with the 3 companies. Earlier during his appearance last Thursday the same witness was emphatic that 2 other Companies Messrs Cezimo Ltd and Jeff & Xris Ltd also passed through due process and got their contracts on merit because there were prequalified and gave lowest bids.
Thereafter the defence sought to tender through the Bar some documents which were approvals and directives given to the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation( SGF )and the former Minister, Ngige by the former President Muhammadu Buhari but the Prosecution opposed and pointed out that the certification of the documents by the Federal Ministry of Labour Human Resources Department were not properly done in accordance with a past Supreme Court ruling on certification of documents. This prompted the defence team to withdraw the application to tender them ,to enable them do the needful. Thereafter the Judge adjourned the matter to October 14 2026 for further hearing.
Ngige was charged on 5 counts of conferring UNDUE advantage to 5 companies said to belong to his Associates and 3 counts of receiving monetary gifts of N38m ,and N42m through his Sen Chris Ngige Foundation Scholarship scheme and Sen Chris Ngige Campaign Organisation respectively. Sen Ngige pleaded not guilty to the charges and pleads his innocence. Political observers believes the Minister is being witch hunted.
