President Bola Tinubu has ordered the arrest of the promoter of a newly uncovered fictitious government office.
He also directed the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries implicated in the latest investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
The development followed the discovery of the purported National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office operating from the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation without presidential approval.
The ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, SAN, disclosed the President’s directives on Friday after briefing Tinubu on the findings of the commission’s investigation.
Those suspended are M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah.
According to Aliyu, the investigation uncovered the purported office in the course of the commission’s wider probe into the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and alleged procedural lapses within the public service.
He said the office had been allocated space within the OSGF complex despite having no legal authority to operate as a government agency and without the President’s authorisation.
“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,” Aliyu said.
The ICPC chairman identified Prince George Buchi Nwabueze as the promoter of the purported agency, alleging that he had active suspected collaborators within the OSGF.
Aliyu said investigators also discovered that Nwabueze had used several variations of his name, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze.
“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, contrary to extant laws and without authorisation of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
He said the commission had engaged the OSGF to obtain relevant information concerning the establishment and activities of the purported office, while investigations into the matter continued.
Aliyu said he had presented the President with a comprehensive briefing on the latest findings, following which Tinubu approved immediate measures against those linked to the discovery.
“I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly,” he said.
According to him, the President ordered the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of the three permanent secretaries as the investigation proceeds.
The latest discovery expands the scope of the controversy surrounding fictitious government institutions that has been under investigation since the exposure of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
The council’s alleged director-general, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is currently facing prosecution over allegations bordering on forgery and impersonation.
An interim ICPC report submitted to Tinubu on August 6, following a 30-day investigation, had also identified two other purported bodies — the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
With the latest discovery, the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office becomes the fourth purported fake agency uncovered in connection with the wider investigation.
The commission said its probe would continue as authorities seek to establish how the fictitious office gained access to government premises and determine the roles allegedly played by individuals within the public service.
