A prosecution witness in the corruption case against former Labour Minister Chris Ngige told a Federal High Court in Abuja that he acted on oral instructions from a permanent secretary despite overseeing procurement at the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) as the defense challenged the government’s evidence of presidential approval.
Justice Mirian Hassan adjourned the case to February 9, 2027.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleges that contracts were awarded improperly during Ngige’s tenure as minister and while he supervised the NSITF.
Ngige has denied wrongdoing, and the court has yet to rule on the allegations.
Dr. Maduka Onwusoro, a former Director of Procurement at the Ministry of Labour and Employment from 2019 to 2023, said under cross-examination by Defense Counsel Patrick Ikwueto, SAN, that he heard of a presidential approval but never saw the document.
He said he carried out directives on NSITF matters that were routed through the Permanent Secretary.
Onwusoro acknowledged writing a letter to the NSITF Managing Director directing that all procurement activities be sent to his office and that officers in the fund’s procurement department be redeployed.
He said the instructions came from the Permanent Secretary, whose name he said he could not recall.
When shown an internal memo from the Minister to the Permanent Secretary forwarding presidential approvals under a “secret” cover, Onwusoro said he had never seen it.
He maintained that the Permanent Secretary had given him oral instructions.
The court exhibits presidential approvals dated June 24, 2021, and March 8, 2021, as well as the internal memo to the permanent secretary.
The documents form part of the prosecution’s effort to establish the chain of authority behind the procurement decisions under scrutiny.
The defense also confronted Onwusoro with evidence that he served on a presidential panel investigating procurement, financial and administrative breaches at the NSITF.
He confirmed his membership and acknowledged that transferring procurement functions from the NSITF to the ministry was among the panel’s recommendations, though he said he was not its chairman.
Shown a certified true copy of a letter from the office of the then President’s Chief of Staff conveying approval of that recommendation, Onwusoro said he was seeing it for the first time.
He nevertheless agreed that the approval related to the panel’s recommendation.
Asked why, as an experienced public servant, he had not sought clarification from the Permanent Secretary’s office, Onwusoro said he did not know that he could do so.
The hearing is part of a broader case examining alleged corruption and favoritism in contract awards connected to Ngige’s oversight of the NSITF.
The court’s adjournment to February 9, 2027, leaves the defense’s challenge to the documentary record and the witness’s account central to the next stage of proceedings.
