A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Gwarimpa, Abuja, yesterday granted bail to former Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige.

The ex-minister was ordered to be remanded in Kuje Prison on December 12 after his arraignment.

Ngige is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an eight-count charge bordering on abuse of office and acceptance of gifts estimated at N2.2 billion.

He is alleged to have accepted the gifts from contractors of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) during his tenure as the supervising minister between September 2015 and May 2023.

In a ruling yesterday, Justice Mariam Hassan held that Ngige should be granted bail on the same conditions attached to the administrative bail earlier granted him by the EFCC.

Justice Hassan said Ngige should produce a surety, who must be at the level of a director in federal employment and must own landed property within the court’s jurisdiction.

The judge held that since Ngige claimed he had misplaced his international passport, his surety should deposit his own international passport with the court, which he (the surety) could only retrieve when Ngige produces his own as a replacement.

She held that the alleged offences, in respect of which Ngige is standing trial, are bailable.

The judge noted that it was unnecessary to impose stringent conditions on defendants, who are being prosecuted on offences that are ordinarily bailable.

Justice Hassan said Ngige, who has been in custody at the Kuje prison in Abuja since he was arraigned on December 12, is to remain there until he can meet the bail conditions.

She adjourned till January 28 and 29 next year for trial.

Ngige is named the sole defendant in the charge the EFCC filed against him.

In Count One, Ngige is alleged to have, between September 2015 and May 2023, while being the supervising Minister of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), used his position to confer an unfair advantage upon Cezimo Nigeria Limited, a company whose MD/CEO and alter ego, Ezebinwa Amarachukwu Charles, is his associate.

Source; The Nation News