A prosecution witness in the corruption trial of former Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that he never saw the presidential approval relating to procurement activities at the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF.
The witness, Dr Maduka Onwusoro, a former Director of Procurement at the NSITF from 2019 to 2023, made the disclosure on Thursday during cross-examination by defence counsel, Patrick Ikwueto, SAN.
The trial, presided over by Justice Miriam Hassan, concerns allegations of corruption and favouritism in the award of contracts during Ngige’s tenure as Minister of Labour and Employment and his supervision of the NSITF.
Onwusoro told the court that although he was the Head of Procurement, he only heard about the presidential approval but never personally saw the document.
He said he was acting on directives from the minister, which were communicated through the Permanent Secretary on matters relating to the NSITF.
When shown a letter he authored to the Managing Director of the NSITF, directing the agency to route all procurement activities through his office and redeploy officers in its procurement department, the witness said he was acting on the instructions of the Permanent Secretary.
However, he told the court that he could not remember the name of the Permanent Secretary at the time.
The defence also presented an internal memo from the minister to the Permanent Secretary, forwarding the presidential approvals under a confidential cover.
Onwusoro said he had never seen the memo but maintained that the Permanent Secretary had given him oral instructions.
During further cross-examination, the witness admitted that he was a member of the presidential investigative panel set up by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to investigate procurement, financial and administrative breaches at the NSITF.
He also confirmed that the transfer of procurement activities from the NSITF to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment was among the panel’s recommendations.
However, he clarified that he was only a member of the panel and not its chairman.
The defence subsequently showed him a certified true copy, CTC, of a letter from the Chief of Staff to the then President to the minister, conveyed through the Legal Department of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The letter communicated approval of the relevant aspect of the panel’s recommendation.
Although Onwusoro initially said he was seeing the document for the first time, he agreed that the approval related to a recommendation made by the panel.
Asked by the defence why, as an experienced public servant, he did not approach the ministry or the Permanent Secretary’s office to verify the presidential approval, the witness said he did not know he could do so.
The presidential approvals dated June 24, 2021, and March 8, 2021, alongside the internal memo to the Permanent Secretary, were tendered and admitted as exhibits by the court.
The court adjourned the case until February 9, 2027, for continuation of trial.