Tunde Bakare
The trial of a former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige continued on Thursday, July 2, 2026, before Justice M.A. Hassan of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court, Gwarimpa, Abuja, with the cross-examination of the Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Onwusoro Maduka Iheamelam by defence counsel, P.I.N. Ikwueto, SAN.
The court deferred ruling on the admissibility of defence team’s documents till October 14 and November 11 and 12, 2026.
Ngige is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on eight-count charge bordering on abuse of office and fraudulent contract award to the tune of N2,261,722,535.84 (Two Billion, Two Hundred and Sixty-one Million, Seven Hundred and Twenty-two Thousand, Five Hundred and Thirty-five Naira, Eighty-four Kobo).
In the course of the cross-examination on Thursday, the prosecution witness requested for the documents referred to by the defence counsel to refresh his memory as the events took place in 2021 and 2022. Ikwueto sought to tender the documents but was opposed by prosecution counsel, Sylvanu Tahir, SAN, on the ground that they were not certified true copies.
In advancing his objection to the admissibility of the documents, Tahir relied on Section 104 of the Evidence Act of 2011. He said, “My lord, the basis of our objection with respect to the documents sought to be tendered is that they violently offend the provision of Section 104 of the Evidence Act 2011.”
The witness also disclosed that he had only perused the documents referred to by the defence counsel and stated that he was a member of the panel that investigated the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund NSITF and submitted recommendations.
During the cross-examination, he also told the court that he was not a member of the Parastatals Tenders Board, PTB and also not its Secretary and disclosed that although that there were no overt extraneous interference in the work of the panel that investigated the NSITF, there may have been some interferences behind the scene.
When asked if he had heard of Zitacom Nigeria Limited and Shale Atlantic Intercontinental Services Limited, he answered in the affirmative and confirmed that the two companies were awarded contracts in the NSITF.
Justice Hassan Adjourned the matter till October 14 and November 11 and 12, 2026 for ruling on the admissibility of the defence documents and continuation of the cross-examination.