An Abuja-based lawyer, Elochukwu Obi, has petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), seeking an investigation into Senator Ireti Kingibe over allegations of abuse of office and an alleged fraudulent transaction involving about ₦65 million.
The petition, filed on behalf of businessman Mr Nonso Okafor, also named one of the senator’s Senior Legislative Aides, Mr Osereme Christen Omofoma, accusing both of obtaining $65,000 (about ₦118 million at the time) from the petitioner in October 2024 under allegedly false pretences.
Dated April 27, 2026 and addressed to the ICPC chairman, the document claimed the complainant was induced into releasing the funds following sustained pressure.
Elochukwu Obi, who signed the petition, stated that the aide approached his client requesting financial assistance for the senator.
He said the aide allegedly told the businessman to “raise the sum of 100,000 USD, for the senator, to enable her meet urgent financial needs”.
According to the petition, assurances were allegedly given that the money would either be repaid or offset through contract awards facilitated by the senator.
The lawyer wrote that, “Initially, our client did not want to be part of the arrangement, especially as he did not have the huge amount of money that was demanded, at that material time.
“However, as a result of the enormous pressure exerted on our client by the SLA, our client was railroaded into borrowing, in order to meet up with the cash demand.
“Consequently, he resorted to borrowing from his friends. At the end, our client was able to raise the sum of 65,000 USD, out of the 100,000 USD that was initially demanded and this was borrowed at exorbitant rates.
“This money was paid to Senator Kingibe, in two tranches in October, 2024. The contract award promised to him was expected to come within a few weeks from the date of payment,” the petition read.
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Obi further alleged that no contract materialised months after the payment, and no refund was made, leading the complainant to conclude he had been misled.
The petition also stated that efforts to recover the money were unsuccessful, alleging that the senator later denied receiving the funds.
It added that, “they reluctantly decided to unilaterally pay only N50,000,000, out of the total 65,000 USD (N118,000,000). The payment was made in May 2025. 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 refuses to forego the balance”.
The lawyer said repeated demands for the remaining ₦68 million were ignored.
He further argued that, “Our client believes that the attitudes of Senator Ireti Kingibe and her SLA so far have been dodgy, deceptive and geared towards defrauding him of his money by leveraging on the shield provided by high governmental positions.
“Our client also strongly believes that there were no contracts for the senator to facilitate in the first place. In the contrary, the FACILITATION OF CONTRACT was a deceitful gimmick, which was deployed to fraudulently collect money from him, without any intention of refunding same.
“It is against the above backdrop that we bring this petition to the attention of your office. On behalf of our client, we most respectfully plead, that you urgently intervene and cause your officers to investigate this matter in order to determine whether there has been criminal infractions and abuse of public office.
“We also specifically plead for the recovery of the outstanding of N68,000,000 (Sixty Eight million Naira), which was deceitfully collected from our client and wrongfully retained by Senator Ireti Kingibe,” the petition added.
When contacted, Senator Kingibe did not respond to phone calls, SMS messages, or WhatsApp enquiries as of press time.