The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has grilled a former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige regarding contract irregularities and job racketeering at the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund during his tenure.
The Fund is supervised by the federal ministry of labour and employment – which Ngige was in charge of for eight years.
The ICPC had previously summoned top officials of the NSITF for questioning regarding the N47m gratuity paid to the immediate past Managing Director, Mrs Maureen Allagoa, while she was still in service.
However, it was gathered that the former minister spent over five hours with ICPC investigators on Wednesday, responding to questions.
A source familiar with the matter said: “The former minister was invited, and he showed up and was released on Wednesday night.
“He should have been around, but he said he was out of the country. He was interrogated on many matters bordering on the award of contracts and job racketeering, among others under him. He was also grilled on the e-NSITF, which he got approval from FEC.”
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Demola Bakare, spokesperson of ICPC, said the former minister is “assisting” the commission with an investigation, but did not go into details of it.
Bakare said the former governor of Anambra state was not detained by the anti-graft agency.
“He was not arrested, he was not detained. He is helping us out with the investigation.
“He is assisting in the investigation, but he was not detained,” the spokesperson said.
Ngige is a Nigerian politician and medical doctor who served as minister of Labour and Employment of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration from 2015 to 2023.
He was elected Senator for Anambra Central Constituency in April 2011. He was the governor of Anambra State in Nigeria from May 2003 to March 2006 under the People’s Democratic Party.
The NSITF has been plagued with a number of corruption allegations over the years.
In January 2023, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned Adebayo Aderibigbe, a former general manager and head of legal services of the NSITF, over alleged fraud.
Aderibigbe was accused of obtaining the sum of N60,400,000 by false pretence.
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