President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and directed the suspension of three Permanent Secretaries following the discovery of another fake government agency operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation .
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) uncovered the “National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office,” which had allegedly been illegally allocated office space within the OSGF premises without presidential authorisation .
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, disclosed this on Friday while briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja .
According to Aliyu, the discovery was made during the commission’s broader investigation into the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and other procedural weaknesses in the public service .
“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 .
The ICPC chairman revealed that Nwabueze was 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 .
Following a comprehensive briefing of the President on the new findings, Tinubu directed the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the immediate suspension of three Permanent Secretaries identified as M.S. Danjuma, Engineer Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah .
The ICPC said it had engaged with the OSGF to ascertain vital information regarding the fake agency under investigation, and that the investigation remains active under the President’s direction .
The latest discovery comes after the ICPC’s interim report, submitted to President Tinubu on August 6 following a 30-day investigation, had earlier disclosed the existence of two other fictitious bodies, including 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 the fourth fake agency uncovered since early April .
