The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has opposed a bid by former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to secure bail following his arraignment before Justice M.A. Hassan of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Gwarimpa, Abuja.
EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, made the opposition known on Monday, December 15, 2025, urging the court to exercise caution in granting bail.
Tahir told the court that Ngige failed to return his international passport after being allowed to travel abroad for medical reasons.
“He made an undertaking that he will return the passport on November 19, 2025. The defendant could not obtain an affidavit of loss in the UK but rather chose to come back to Nigeria to obtain an affidavit. What stopped him from obtaining a relevant police report from London?” he asked.
He further argued that “the logical thing to do was to depose an affidavit of loss in the country. What does Nigerian police know about a loss of passport in the UK? The defendant is in gross breach of the administrative bail granted by the EFCC. Suddenly he is asking this court to grant him bail in terms and conditions granted by the EFCC. The totality of this case calls for extreme caution. We submit that the court should refuse the application and order for accelerated trial.”
Ngige’s counsel, Patrick Ikweato, SAN, however, urged the court to grant his client bail, saying all grounds for the application were already included in the filed processes.
“I am asking my lord to admit the defendant to bail. The appeals are stated in the application. We rely on all the processes as well as the written application,” he said.
Justice Hassan adjourned the matter to Thursday, December 18, 2025, for ruling on the bail application.
Ngige was arraigned on an eight-count charge of alleged contract fraud and accepting gifts totalling 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).
