According to Chellen, this irregularity raises serious questions about the procurement process for the NSITF project.
The first prosecution witness, Mr. Pedro Torwuese Chellen, testified on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Gwarimpa, during the trial of former Anambra State Governor and ex-Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige.
Presided over by Justice M.A. Hassan, PW1 told the court that the company awarded the N80 million contract for the renovation of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) office in Makurdi did not participate in the original bidding process.
According to Chellen, this irregularity raises serious questions about the procurement process for the NSITF project.
Led in his testimony by prosecution counsel Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, Mr. Pedro Torwuese Chellen, an entrepreneur and project manager at Imanil Haq Nigeria Limited, told the court that his company instructed its lawyers to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after discovering that the NSITF contract had been awarded to a company that did not participate in the bidding process.
The witness said he was subsequently invited to the EFCC, where his statements were recorded. The petition and its attached bid documents were admitted in court as Exhibit P1.
Chellen narrated that his company had applied for the contract and fully participated in the bidding process following its advertisement in newspapers.
After losing the bid, he wrote to the NSITF management requesting details about the award, but received no response. He then appealed to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), which revealed that the contract had indeed been awarded to a non-participating company.
During cross-examination by defence counsel P.I.N. Ikwueto, SAN, Chellen confirmed that his petition was directed against the NSITF management board.
Speaking further, he said that he also complained about the change of title of the contract from “‘Renovation of Makurdi Office’ to ‘Construction of Makurdi Office,’” adding that the initial cost N80 million (Eighty Million Naira only) was also hiked to N120 million (One Hundred and Twenty Million Naira only) by the management board of the NSITF.
While acknowledging that he made this statement to the EFCC in 2023, he observed that there was massive corruption in NSITF and further acknowledged that while he had not attended any management meeting of NSITF board, he learned through the media that the board was later reconstituted.
The matter was adjourned till January 29, 2026.