Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu has suspended three permanent secretaries and ordered the immediate arrest of one George Nwabueze following the discovery of a fake agency operating inside the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, disclosed this on Friday, August 21, 2206, after briefing the President on its latest findings.
According to the ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Aliyu, the fake body was operating as the “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office.” It was allocated office space within the OSGF without presidential approval and in violation of civil service regulations.
“The fake agency office was promoted by one George 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 added that investigations revealed Nwabueze operated under five different name variations including George Nathan and Prince George Nwabueze.
Following the briefing, President Tinubu directed the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of three permanent secretaries pending further investigation. They are Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard Pheelangwah.
Aliyu said the ICPC is engaging the OSGF to determine how the office space was allocated and to identify other officials who may have aided the operation.
“This is part of our ongoing investigation into fictitious government agencies and procedural weaknesses in the public service, We have briefed Mr President comprehensively and ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly.”
The latest discovery comes weeks after the commission exposed another fictitious body, the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, which led to the prosecution of its self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, for forgery and impersonation.
An interim ICPC report submitted to Tinubu on August 6 also flagged two other non-existent agencies: the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
The presidency has not yet commented on what disciplinary actions will follow the suspension of the three permanent secretaries.
