By Ambrose Amos
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze and suspended three permanent secretaries following the discovery of another fake agency operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
The suspended permanent secretaries are M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah.
Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, disclosed the development on Friday while briefing State House correspondents after his second meeting with Tinubu in two days.
According to Aliyu, the commission uncovered the fake office as part of its ongoing investigation into fictitious government agencies and weaknesses in the public service.
The office, operating as the “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office,” was found to have been allocated space within the OSGF without presidential approval and in violation of existing regulations.
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.
The commission identified Prince George Buchi Nwabueze as the promoter of the office and said investigations showed that he operated using several variations of his name.
“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.
Aliyu said the ICPC had also engaged the OSGF as part of efforts to obtain relevant information concerning the fake office and its operations.
“I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly,” he said.
Following the briefing, the President ordered the arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of the three permanent secretaries.
Aliyu said, “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.
The latest discovery follows the exposure of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, a scandal that led to the prosecution of its self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, over alleged forgery and impersonation.
An interim ICPC report submitted to Tinubu on August 6, following a 30-day investigation, had also identified two other fictitious bodies: the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
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