President Bola Tinubu has ordered the suspension of three permanent secretaries and the arrest of a man accused of promoting another fictitious government agency operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Drivetvnews gathered that the affected permanent secretaries are M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah, while the President ordered the arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze.
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, disclosed this on Friday after briefing the President for the second time in two days.
According to Aliyu, the latest discovery was made during the ICPC’s ongoing investigation into fake government agencies, following an earlier directive from Tinubu.
He said the newly uncovered body, known as the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, had been illegally allocated office space within the OSGF premises without presidential approval.
The ICPC chairman identified Nwabueze as the promoter of the purported agency and said he allegedly operated under several different names.
> “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,” Aliyu said.
He listed the other variations of Nwabueze’s name as George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze.
Aliyu said the ICPC had engaged the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to obtain relevant information concerning the purported agency and had briefed Tinubu on the findings.
He said the President subsequently directed 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,” Aliyu stated.
The latest development is part of a wider investigation into fictitious government agencies that began after the discovery of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
The council’s self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, is currently facing prosecution over allegations including forgery and impersonation.
An interim ICPC report submitted to Tinubu on August 6 after a 30-day investigation had also uncovered 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 since the investigation into the fictitious bodies began.
