Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the National Assembly, has been dragged before the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over an alleged N100 million kickback linked to a nonexistent government contract.
In a petition dated April 27, 2026, and addressed to the ICPC Chairman, a legal practitioner, Elochukwu Obi, accused the Senator and her Senior Legislative Aide (SLA), Mr. Osereme Christian Omofoma, of conspiring to defraud his client, Mr. Nonso Okafor.
According to the petition as published by The Sun, the trouble began in October 2024 when Omofoma approached Okafor under intense pressure to raise $100,000 (approximately N118 million at the time) for Senator Kingibe. The SLA allegedly claimed the money was needed to address the Senator’s urgent financial needs.
“He pleaded with our client to help him raise $100,000 for the Senator to enable her to meet urgent financial needs,” the petition read in part. “The SLA promised that the money would be repaid in full or in the alternative, the Senator will facilitate the award of contracts to our client through which he would recoup the money.”
Mr. Okafor was initially unwilling to be part of the arrangement, particularly because he did not have such a huge amount of cash on hand. However, the lawyer alleged that “enormous pressure” from the SLA forced his client to borrow from friends at exorbitant interest rates.
In the end, Okafor could only raise $65,000, which was paid to Senator Kingibe in two tranches in October 2024. In exchange, he was promised that contract awards would materialize within a few weeks.
Months of Waiting
The petition stated that Okafor waited “futilely far beyond the envisaged timeframe” but no contract ever came. It was at that point, the lawyer said, that it dawned on his client that there was no contract to begin with—that he had simply been misled.
“When our client began to ask for the refund of his money, the Senator not only refused to refund the money, but she also began to actively claim that she did not receive any money from our client,” Obi added.
N50 Million Paid, N68 Million Outstanding
The situation took another twist in May 2025, when—after Okafor threatened to involve law enforcement—the Senator and her aide reluctantly made a unilateral payment of N50 million.
However, the petition argued that the total amount collected was $65,000, which at the time of transaction was valued at N118 million. This leaves an outstanding balance of approximately N68 million.
“After this, Senator Kingibe and her aide tried to compel our client to accept the payment as full and final, with threats to arrest him if he refuses to forgo the balance,” the lawyer alleged. Despite the threats, Okafor has continued to demand the completion of his money.
Prayer to ICPC
The lawyer pleaded with the ICPC Chairman to urgently intervene, investigate possible criminal infractions and abuse of public office, and recover the outstanding N68 million which, he argued, was deceitfully collected and wrongfully retained by Senator Kingibe.
“Our client believes that the attitudes of Senator Kingibe and her SLA so far have been dodgy, deceptive and geared towards defrauding him of his money by leveraging on the shield provided by high governmental positions,” the petition concluded.
No Official Response Yet
As of press time, Senator Ireti Kingibe and her legislative aide, Mr. Osereme Christian Omofoma, have not issued any official statement regarding the petition. Efforts to reach the Senator’s media office were unsuccessful.
The ICPC is yet to confirm whether it has commenced an investigation into the matter.
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