President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze and the suspension of three permanent secretaries following the discovery of another alleged fake government agency operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The affected permanent secretaries are M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah.
Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, disclosed this on Friday while briefing State House correspondents after meeting with President Tinubu for the second time in two days.
Aliyu said the newly uncovered fake office operated under the name National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office and had been illegally allocated office space within the premises of the OSGF.
According to him, the allocation was contrary to extant laws and was done without presidential 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, which has been illegally allocated office space within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” Aliyu said.
He explained that the discovery was made during the commission’s broader investigation, which President Tinubu had earlier directed.
The ICPC chairman identified the promoter of the alleged fake office as George Buchi Nwabueze, who was reportedly found to be operating under multiple aliases.
“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,” Aliyu said.
He said the promoter was also discovered to operate under four other variations of his name: George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze.
Aliyu further disclosed that the ICPC had engaged the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to obtain vital information relating to the fake office under investigation.
He added that the commission had comprehensively briefed President Tinubu on the latest developments.
“I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly,” he said.
According to Aliyu, President Tinubu responded to the discovery by directing the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of the three permanent secretaries.
“Mr President has directed as follows: the immediate arrest of Prince George Buchi Nwabueze; the immediate suspension of the following permanent secretaries; M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah,” he said.
Friday’s development is the latest in a scandal that began with the exposure of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is currently facing prosecution over allegations of forgery and impersonation.
The ICPC’s interim report, submitted to President Tinubu on August 6 after a 30-day investigation, had earlier revealed the existence of two other alleged fictitious bodies: the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
The National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office is therefore the fourth alleged fake agency uncovered following the PFIFC scandal, which began in early April.
Related Developments
The development comes amid continued investigations into the establishment and operation of allegedly unauthorised bodies within government offices and concerns over procedural weaknesses in the public service.
President Tinubu’s latest directives followed his second briefing by the ICPC in two days as the commission continues its investigation into the fake agencies and the officials and individuals allegedly connected to them.
Stephen Angbulu, who has three years of experience as a PUNCH correspondent, covers Nigeria’s presidency, politics, security, immigration and trafficking in persons.
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