President Bola Tinubu has directed the immediate arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze and ordered the suspension of three permanent secretaries following the discovery of another fake 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 to State House correspondents on Friday after briefing the President for the second time in two days, following an earlier meeting on Thursday.
Aliyu said the newly discovered fake office, operating under the name “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office,” had been unlawfully given office space within the OSGF premises, contrary to existing laws and without presidential approval.
He said, “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.
According to him, the discovery was made during the commission’s wider investigation, which President Tinubu had previously ordered, and the promoter of the purported office was identified as Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, who allegedly operated using 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 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The promoter was discovered to also 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 said.
He said the ICPC had contacted the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to obtain crucial information concerning the fake office being investigated, while also presenting the latest findings to the President.
“I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly,” he said.
Aliyu said that following the discovery, “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 announcement is the latest development in a scandal that started with the discovery of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose purported Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is currently being prosecuted over allegations of forgery and impersonation.
An interim ICPC report submitted to the President on August 6, following a 30-day investigation, had earlier revealed two additional 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 becomes the fourth fake agency uncovered following the PFIFC scandal, which emerged in early April.
