A prosecution witness, Orwusoro Maduka, countered a former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige’s defence regarding a presidential directive on procurement to the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).
Mr Maduka, a former director of procurement in the Ministry of Labour and Employment from 2019 to 2023, testified as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s third witness.
The EFCC charged Mr Ngige with eight counts of receiving gratifications from NSITF contractors and giving associates preferential treatment in awarding the agency’s N2.2 billion contracts.
The EFCC alleged that Mr Ngige awarded contracts to several companies and collected gratifications from contractors of the NSITF through his organisations, called the Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige Campaign Organisation and Cezimo Nigeria Limited.
Testifying before the an Abuja High Court in Gwarinpa, the witness cited a letter from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to refute the claim that Mr Ngige had legitimate presidential authorisation to unilaterally oversee NSITF procurements
The witness was led in evidence by the EFCC Counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN.
When asked if he saw the instrument conveying the presidential directive, the witness replied:
“No, I never saw the directive. Although there were correspondences signed by the minister alluding to the directive.”
He said that Mr Ngige constituted a parastatal Tenders Board Committee, and members were appointed, including his deputy (Joyce), who acted as the secretary.
The witness said the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) was aware of the arrangement.
Consequently, the EFCC counsel tendered letters of awards of contracts, minutes of meetings by the Ministerial Tender Board (MTB) and Parastatal Tenders Board (PTB), and a letter of NSITF cessation of procurement activities by Mr Ngige.
The counsel for Mr Ngige, Patrick Ikwueto, SAN, did not object to the documents; the court admitted them as evidence and marked them as exhibits.
The witness said the PTB had a threshold it could award contracts and such contracts were forwarded to the ministry for approval.
He also read through the award letters of Shell Atlantic for consultancy services, over N48 million and N49 million, and stakeholder engagement for safety.
Others are Health (N40 million), Jeff and Chris (N47 million), Zitacom Limited (N48 and N49 million), Cezzimo (N49 million) and Old English Consolidated (N49 million).
Mr Tahir then asked the witness if the sum exceeded PTB’s threshold; the witness replied, “All the contracts are mainly within the PTB threshold zones.”
Justice Maryam Hassan adjourned the case until Thursday for continuation of testimony.
(NAN)
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