The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission charged former Labor and Employment Minister Chris Ngige with N2.2 billion contract fraud on Friday before an Abuja High Court in Gwarinpa. The former minister was placed under detention at the Kuje Correctional Center by Justice Maryam Hassan until his bail application was heard on Monday, December 14.
While serving as the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund's supervising minister from September 2015 to May 2023, Ngige entered a not guilty plea to eight counts that included accepting gifts from contractors and abusing his position.
Sylvanus Tahir (SAN), the EFCC's attorney, requested a trial date and urged the court to detain the defendant following the plea. He stated, "We respectfully request the trial date in light of the defendant's not guilty plea. We also ask the Lord to detain the accused in the Kuje jail until the whole trial can begin.
However, Patrick Ikwueto (SAN), the lead defense attorney, disagreed with the EFCC's argument and asked the court to give his client bail on health grounds, pointing out that the former minister had been detained by the EFCC for three days before the arraignment.
"The defendant has entered his plea, and your lordship now has complete control over this trial," he said. As I previously said, the defendant has been detained by the EFCC for the last three days, during which time he was served with the accusation. The charge was filed yesterday and assigned to this court, as we can see.
"The question of whether or not he will be granted bail is a constitutional right. In this nation, the defendant is not an unknown individual. Nobody in this nation, in my opinion, will claim not to know the defendant. He was described as a minister of this nation, even in the accusation.
"I implore your Lordship to give the defendant bail, and we are prepared to comply with any conditions your Lordship may set. He even talked about the necessity to visit the hospital this morning. The prosecution is requesting his remand despite being well aware that Kuje lacks the resources to address his medical concerns.
He contended that the accusations did not resemble charges of treason or terrorism that would support a denial of bail. It's not as though he consumed NSTIF or the ministry's funds. We'll see how those contracts were awarded once the trial gets underway. It's not an accusation of treason or terrorism," Ikwueto said.
Additionally, he contested the EFCC's motion, claiming that the defense was not given enough time to reply. "We were not given enough time to submit our own counter-affidavit. We will do so if the prosecution grants us time.
However, the prosecution refuted him, pointing out that the defendant's claimed offense was serious and shouldn't be minimized by the defense.
The prosecution stated, "The offenses with which the defendant was charged are by no means minor; they are rather enormous crimes that, if found guilty, he will spend nothing less than five years in prison because of the attempt to trivialize the crime and bamboozle the Court."
He informed the court that after being allowed to leave for medical care in October, Ngige neglected to return his international passport.
The court ordered Ngige's remand in Kuje and postponed the case until December 14.