President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries and the arrest of a man accused of promoting another fictitious government agency 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.
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Musa Aliyu, disclosed the development on Friday after briefing Tinubu for the second time in two days.
According to Aliyu, the newly uncovered body operated as the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office and had been allocated office space within the OSGF without presidential authorisation and contrary to existing laws.
The ICPC chairman identified George Buchi Nwabueze as the promoter of the office and said he allegedly operated under several variations of his name.
“The promoter was discovered to also operate under four other variations of his name,” Aliyu said.
Tinubu subsequently directed the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of the three permanent secretaries.
Aliyu said the ICPC had engaged the OSGF to obtain information relevant to its investigation and would continue probing the circumstances surrounding the fictitious office.
The latest discovery follows an earlier investigation into the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose alleged promoter, Adeniyi Adeyemi, is facing prosecution over alleged forgery and impersonation.
An ICPC interim report submitted to the President on August 6 had also identified 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 PFIFC scandal began.
