President Bola Tinubu has 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.
The President also ordered the immediate arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze, identified as the promoter of the alleged fake agency.
Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, disclosed the development to State House correspondents on Friday after briefing the President for the second time in two days.
Aliyu said the newly uncovered office, known as the “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office,” was illegally allocated office space within the premises of the OSGF without presidential authorisation and contrary to extant laws.
He said the discovery was made during the commission’s broader investigation, which was earlier directed by the President.
According to the ICPC chairman, the office was promoted by Nwabueze, who allegedly operated under 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.
The ICPC chairman said the commission had engaged the OSGF to obtain vital information relating to the office and had comprehensively briefed the President on the latest findings.
“I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly,” he said.
Aliyu said Tinubu subsequently ordered the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of the three permanent secretaries.
“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 development is the latest in an investigation that began with the exposure of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
The council’s self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, is currently facing prosecution on charges of forgery and impersonation.
An ICPC interim report submitted to the President on August 6, following a 30-day investigation, had earlier uncovered two other 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 the fourth fake agency uncovered since the PFIFC scandal emerged in early April.
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