President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of a man allegedly behind a fictitious government agency operating from the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
The President also directed the suspension of three permanent secretaries following the discovery of the alleged fake office, according to the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Aliyu, SAN.
Aliyu disclosed this to State House correspondents on Friday after briefing the President for the second time in two days on the commission’s investigation into fictitious government agencies and procedural weaknesses within the public service.
The newly uncovered office was operating under the name National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office and had allegedly been allocated office space within the OSGF premises without presidential approval.
Aliyu said the discovery was made during the broader investigation ordered by President Tinubu following the exposure of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
‘Upon further briefing by ICPC to Mr. President on the ongoing investigations into the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and procedural weaknesses in the public service, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has uncovered another fake agency and office operating under the name National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office’, he said.
According to the ICPC chairman, the office had been allocated space within the OSGF ‘contrary to extant laws and without authorisation of the President’.
Aliyu identified the alleged promoter of the fictitious office as George Buchi Nwabueze, also known as Prince George Buchi Nwabueze.
He said investigators found that Nwabueze had operated under several variations of his name, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Hon. George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze.
The ICPC chairman said the investigation had also uncovered suspected collaborators within the OSGF.
‘The fake agency office, National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, was promoted by one George Buchi Nwabueze, with active suspected collaborators in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation’, Aliyu said.
He said the commission had engaged the OSGF to obtain information relevant to the investigation and had briefed the President on its latest findings.
‘I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly’, he said.
Following the briefing, Aliyu said President Tinubu directed the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of three permanent secretaries.
Those suspended are M. S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah.
Aliyu said the directives were issued in response to the discovery of the fictitious office and the alleged involvement of officials within the OSGF.
The latest discovery is the fourth fictitious government agency uncovered by the ICPC since investigations began following the exposure of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
The PFIFC scandal came to light after its self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, was exposed and subsequently prosecuted over allegations including forgery and impersonation.
In an interim report submitted to President Tinubu on 6 August after a 30-day investigation, the ICPC disclosed the existence of two other purported government bodies: the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
The discovery of the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office has now expanded the investigation into what the ICPC says are weaknesses in procedures governing the establishment and operation of government agencies.
The commission said its investigation into the latest discovery was continuing.
