President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze and suspended three permanent secretaries following the discovery of another unauthorised agency operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Musa Aliyu, SAN, disclosed this on Friday after briefing the President on the commission’s ongoing investigation into fictitious government agencies.
The newly uncovered entity, identified as the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, was allegedly operating from office space within the OSGF without presidential approval or legal authorisation.
According to Aliyu, Nwabueze was identified as the promoter of the fake office and allegedly operated under several names, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze and Prince George Buchi Nwabueze.
Following the discovery, Tinubu directed the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of three permanent secretaries — M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah pending further investigation.
The latest development follows the earlier exposure of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose alleged Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is facing prosecution for forgery and impersonation.
An ICPC interim report submitted to Tinubu on August 6 had also uncovered two other alleged fictitious bodies — the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
The latest discovery brings to four the number of alleged fake agencies uncovered by the ICPC in the ongoing investigation.
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