Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory, has been dragged to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission over claims she took $65,000 — about N118 million at the time — from a businessman for a federal contract that never existed.
The petition, filed April 27, 2026, by lawyer Elochukwu Obi on behalf of Nonso Okafor, asks ICPC Chairman to open an urgent probe into alleged abuse of office and to recover the outstanding funds.
According to the petition, the saga started in October 2024 when Kingibe’s senior legislative aide, Osereme Omofoma, reached out to Okafor. The aide allegedly pleaded for help raising $100,000 to cover the senator’s “urgent financial needs,” with a promise: repay in full, or Kingibe would use her office to facilitate federal contracts so Okafor could recoup the cash.
Okafor was reluctant. He didn’t have the money. But the petition says Omofoma applied “enormous pressure,” pushing the businessman to borrow from friends to meet the demand.
Okafor scraped together $65,000 — borrowed “at exorbitant interest rates” — and paid it to Kingibe in two tranches in October 2024. He was told a contract would land within weeks.
“After the payment, our client futilely waited far beyond the envisaged timeframe for the promised contracts, but nothing materialised,” the petition stated.
Months passed. No contract. It then “dawned on our client that there was no contract for him and that he had simply been misled,” the document added.
When Okafor demanded a refund, the petition alleges the senator’s stance flipped from silence to denial. “The Senator not only refused to refund the money, but she also began to actively claim that she did not receive any money from our client,” it stated.
Cut off from Kingibe, Okafor pressed Omofoma. After threatening to involve law enforcement, the petition says the senator’s camp “reluctantly decided to unilaterally pay only N50,000,000 out of the total $65,000 (N118,000,000).” That payment came in May 2025.
At the October 2024 exchange rate, Okafor’s $65,000 equaled N118 million. The N50 million refund left a N68 million shortfall.
“After this, Senator Kingibe and her aide tried to compel our client to accept the payment as full and final, with threats to arrest him if he refuses to forgo the balance,” the petition alleged.
Okafor refused. “Our client continued to peacefully press for the completion of his money, which remains N68,000,000. All subsequent appeals for the payment fell on deaf ears,” it stated.
The petitioner now believes the contract pitch was a trap. “Our client believes that there were no contracts for the Senator to facilitate in the first place. On the contrary, the facilitation of contract was a deceitful gimmick which was deployed to fraudulently collect money from him, without any intention of refunding the same,” the petition concluded.
The ICPC has not yet commented. Senator Kingibe has not responded to the allegations.
From urgent loan to alleged fraud, the question before the anti-graft body is stark: Was a sitting senator selling access to contracts that didn’t exist?
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