Former governor and minister, Dr Chris Ngige, was on Thursday granted bail by a High Court of Federal Capital Territory in an eight-count fraud case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The court, sitting in Gwarinpa, Abuja and presided over by Justice Maryam Hassan, after admitting Ngige to bail, also adjourned further hearing on the matter to January 28 next year.
Ngige, a former Anambra State Governor and also a Minister of Labour in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, was granted bail in the conditions of the administrative bail earlier granted him by the EFCC.
READ ALSO: Ngige locked up in Kuje prison as court orders continued detention
As part of his bail conditions, the defendant was ordered to produce a surety that must be a civil servant not below the rank of a Director.
According to the court, the surety must equally be an owner of a landed property in the FCT, even as it ordered the defendant to surrender his international passport and not travel outside the country without permission.
Justice Hassan overruled a preliminary objection the anti-graft agency filed to oppose the ex-minister’s application for bail.
She held that the court had the power to exercise its discretion on the issue of bail.
The court held that such discretion must be discharged judicially and judiciously without the imposition of conditions that would appear unreasonable and arbitrary.
It subsequently adjourned the matter till January 28 and 29, 2026, for trial.
Ngige, who was in office as a minister from November 11, 2015 to May 29, 2023, was on December 12, arraigned before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, following his alleged complicity in contract fraud totalling over N2. 2billion.
Though he pleaded not guilty to the charge after he was docked, the trial judge ordered his remand at the Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja, pending the determination of his bail application.
Part of the charge against him bordered on abuse of office, as well as an allegation that he accepted kickbacks from firms that were awarded contracts by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF.
It was alleged that he used his position to confer unfair advantage to his associates by awarding contracts to their companies.
The defendant, by his action, was said to have committed offences punishable under various sections of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
The anti-graft agency had through its team of lawyers led by Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, urged the court to refuse the defendant’s request for bail.
The prosecution counsel alleged that the ex-minister violated an administrative bail the Commission earlier granted to him, stressing that he refused to return his international passport after he was permitted to travel abroad in October for a medical checkup.
READ ALSO: Court remands Ngige in Kuje prison
The EFCC further drew attention of the court to the weight of the charge which it said would attract nothing less than five years prison term if the defendant is convicted.
However, the defence lawyer, Mr. Patrick Ikwueto, prayed the court to release his client on bail pending the hearing and determination of the case against him.
Ikwueto, lamented that the defendant had already spent three days in custody of the EFCC before he was produced before the court for arraignment.
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