- The ICPC interrogates former Minister Chris Ngige over alleged involvement in contracts and job racketeering within the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund
- Ngige spent five hours with ICPC detectives, addressing questions about contract awards and the abandonment of a multi-million naira electronic project
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has questioned Chris Ngige, a former Minister of Labour and Employment under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Ngige was interrogated over his alleged involvement in contracts and job racketeering activities within one of the agencies under his ministry.
According to reports, Ngige spent approximately five hours on Wednesday with ICPC detectives to answer questions about certain contracts awarded at the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF). Previously, the ICPC had invited senior officials of NSITF for questioning over a N47 million gratuity payment to the immediate-past Managing Director, Mrs. Maureen Allagoa, while she was still in service.
The former Minister of Labour, Simon Lalong, now a Senator, had also set up a special investigative committee to probe alleged irregularities in various contract awards amounting to N1.8 billion within the NSITF.
Both the ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have launched investigations into the matter, prompting the ICPC to invite Ngige while he was in the United States for medical treatment.
ICPC sources said that Ngige was asked to provide more details about the award and abandonment of a multi-million naira electronic project known as e-NSITF, which he had received approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) during Buhari’s administration.
An ICPC operative confirmed, “Our detectives interacted with him. We had invited him earlier in accordance with our Standard Operating Procedures, but he was out of the country. We allowed him time to complete his activities in the U.S. He honoured our invitation on Wednesday.”
An associate of Ngige clarified that he was not arrested, as some reports suggested, and that he left the ICPC headquarters in Abuja after providing the necessary clarifications.
The ally stated, “He was invited when he was abroad to clarify certain claims made by staff, and he went there voluntarily yesterday to provide clarifications. He was not arrested.”
When contacted for comments, ICPC spokesperson Demola Bakare said he was unaware of the development but promised to follow up. However, he had not provided any further information at the time of this report.
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