By Ayomide Otitoju
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze following the discovery of another fake agency operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
The President also ordered the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries — M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah — over their alleged links to the unauthorised office.
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Aliyu, SAN, disclosed the directives to State House correspondents on Friday after briefing President Tinubu.
Aliyu said the agency uncovered an office operating under the name “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office” during its ongoing investigation into fictitious government bodies.
According to him, the office had been allocated space within the OSGF premises without presidential authorisation and in violation of existing regulations.
He said the ICPC’s latest discovery emerged from a broader investigation ordered by President Tinubu following the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFICP).
“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,” Aliyu said.
The ICPC chairman said Nwabueze was found to have operated under several variations of his name, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze.
Aliyu said the commission had engaged with the OSGF to obtain information relevant to the investigation and had briefed the President on its findings.
“ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly. 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, Engineer Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah,” he said.
The latest discovery is the fourth allegedly unlawful government body uncovered by the ICPC following the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
The disputed PFICP came under scrutiny earlier this year after its self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, became the subject of an investigation.
In an interim report submitted to President Tinubu on August 6 after a 30-day investigation, the ICPC had also disclosed the existence of two other alleged fictitious bodies — the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
The House of Representatives has separately launched an investigation into the PFICP and its disputed director-general, with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Accountant-General of the Federation among officials appearing before the lawmakers.
