Most probably this is because of missing telnet(1) or expect(1) commands in
your installation, that the test suite ("make check") of ngIRCd relays on.

Right, expect has been missing:

# ./contrib/platformtest.sh                                  
platformtest.sh: Checking ngIRCd base source directory ...
platformtest.sh:  - source directory: ./contrib/..
platformtest.sh:  - working directory: /root/src/ngircd-23
platformtest.sh: Checking for GIT tree ...
platformtest.sh: Checking for "./contrib/../configure" script ...
platformtest.sh: Running "./contrib/../configure" script ...
platformtest.sh: Running "make" ...
platformtest.sh: Running "make check" ...

                                the executable works ("runs") as expected --+
                                  tests run successfully ("make check") --+ |
                                             ngIRCd compiles ("make") --+ | |
                                                  ./configure works --+ | | |
                                                                      | | | |
Platform                    Compiler     ngIRCd     Date     Tester   C M T R *
--------------------------- ------------ ---------- -------- -------- - - - - -
x86_64/unknown/linux-gnu    gcc 5.3.0    23         15-12-14 root     Y Y Y Y 1