President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of a suspected promoter of a fictitious Federal Government agency and the suspension of three permanent secretaries following fresh findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The directive followed the discovery by the anti-graft agency of another alleged fake government establishment, the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, which reportedly secured office accommodation within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) without presidential authorisation.
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, disclosed the development on Friday after briefing President Tinubu on the commission’s widening investigation into fictitious government agencies and apparent vulnerabilities in public sector administrative processes.
Aliyu identified the alleged promoter of the purported agency as Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, who, according to the commission, operated under different variations of his name.
He said the names included George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Buchi Nwabueze.
According to the ICPC chairman, President Tinubu, after receiving a comprehensive briefing on the findings, directed the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of three permanent secretaries pending further investigation.
Aliyu named the affected permanent secretaries as M. S. Danjuma, Engr. Nadungu Gagare and Richard Pheelangwah.
The ICPC is expected to establish the roles, if any, played by the suspended officials and other individuals in the creation, accommodation and operation of the purported government agency.
The commission is also engaging relevant officials in the OSGF to determine how an unauthorised organisation obtained accommodation within government premises and operated in an environment capable of lending it an appearance of official legitimacy.
‘I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigation’, Aliyu said.
The fresh discovery emerged from the ICPC’s investigation into the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which had earlier prompted Tinubu to order a wider probe into how unauthorised bodies could present themselves as agencies of the Federal Government.
The PFIPC controversy broke in July after the Presidency disowned the organisation, warning Nigerians and the international community that it had no connection whatsoever with the Federal Government.
The Presidency had said the body, which presented itself as the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and claimed to operate under the Nigerian Presidency, was fictitious and had not been created or authorised by President Tinubu.
The organisation had reportedly paraded individuals as officials of the purported council, using titles and structures designed to create an impression of presidential authority.
Following the discovery, Tinubu directed the ICPC to investigate the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the PFIPC, identify those behind it and establish whether serving or former public officials facilitated its operations.
The President also ordered a broader examination of the administrative processes through which entities are established within government, as concerns mounted that loopholes in the system could be exploited to create fictitious agencies or confer an appearance of official recognition on unauthorised organisations.
The PFIPC investigation subsequently expanded beyond identifying its promoters to examining institutional and administrative weaknesses that might have enabled the organisation to operate and portray itself as a government body.
It was in the course of that wider investigation that the ICPC uncovered the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, deepening concerns over the possible proliferation of unauthorised entities exploiting government structures and nomenclature.
The significance of the latest discovery, it was gathered, is that the purported office was allegedly able to secure physical accommodation within the OSGF premises despite having no authorisation from the President.
The ICPC is consequently probing the processes through which the office gained access to the government facility, those who approved or facilitated the arrangement and whether other officials were involved.
Aliyu said the development had reinforced the need for tighter administrative controls and closer scrutiny of government institutions and internal processes.
He also commended Tinubu for directing a policy audit of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and internal government procedures, saying the exercise would help expose weaknesses capable of being exploited by individuals seeking to operate outside established government structures.
‘President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, must be commended for the proactive step of directing the policy audit of MDAs and internal government processes towards strengthening government governance system’, the ICPC chairman said.
The latest discovery has significantly broadened the anti-graft commission’s investigation from the activities of one fictitious organisation to the processes within the Federal Government that could allow unauthorised entities to acquire the trappings of official agencies.
Investigators are expected to determine not only those behind the two purported bodies but also whether lapses, complicity or abuse of administrative procedures by public officials enabled their operations.
The suspension of the three permanent secretaries is expected to allow the ICPC to investigate their possible roles without interference while the search for Nwabueze and the examination of other individuals linked to the alleged scheme continue.
The commission said its investigation would continue as it seeks to unravel the circumstances surrounding the establishment and operation of the purported agencies and identify any further weaknesses within the public service that may have facilitated them.