Pat Stevens/
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja to refuse bail to a former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, explaining why he should remain in custody pending trial.
Ngige was arraigned on Monday before Justice M. A. Hassan at the Gwarimpa Division of the court on an eight-count charge bordering on alleged contract fraud and the acceptance of gifts amounting to N2.26 billion.
Opposing the bail application, prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, told the court that the former minister had breached the administrative bail earlier granted to him by the EFCC by failing to return his international passport after being permitted to travel abroad for medical reasons.
According to Tahir, Ngige had undertaken to return the passport on November 19, 2025, but failed to do so until he was eventually arrested by the commission.
He argued that Ngige’s explanation for the missing passport was untenable, noting that although the defendant claimed to have lost the document in the United Kingdom, he neither obtained a police report nor swore an affidavit of loss there before returning to Nigeria.
“What stopped him from obtaining a relevant police report in London?” Tahir asked, adding that it was illogical to claim the passport was lost abroad and then seek an affidavit of loss in Nigeria.
The prosecution maintained that the defendant’s conduct amounted to a gross breach of the conditions attached to the administrative bail earlier granted by the EFCC.
Tahir further submitted that Ngige’s application for bail before the court, under conditions similar to those earlier granted by the commission, undermined the provisions of Section 162 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
“The totality of this case calls for extreme caution,” he told the court, urging Justice Hassan to refuse the bail application and order an accelerated trial.
However, defence counsel, Patrick Ikweato, SAN, appealed to the court to grant bail to the former minister, relying on the processes and written application already before the court.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Hassan adjourned the matter to Thursday, December 18, 2025, for ruling on the bail application.
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