President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of one Prince George Buchi Nwabueze following the discovery of “National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office”.
Tinubu also ordered the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries, including M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah over the new discovery.
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission uncovered the purported fake agency in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.
Chairman of the of the ICPC Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after a meeting with the President on Friday.
Adamu said the new fake agency was discovered as part of the ongoing investigation into the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, which was been operated by Adeyemi Matthew.
According to him, an office space was illegally allotted to the agency within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
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 discovery emerged in the course of the commission’s broader investigation, as earlier directed by President Tinubu, and identified the promoter of the fake office as one Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, who was found to be operating under multiple aliases.
He added, “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 disclosed that the ICPC had engaged the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to ascertain vital information relating to the fake office under investigation, and had comprehensively briefed the President on the new developments.
“I have briefed Mr President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations accordingly,” he said.
The ICPC boss said following the discovery, “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.”
The development is the latest in a scandal that began with the exposure of the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is currently facing prosecution on charges of forgery and impersonation.
ICPC’s interim report, submitted to President Tinubu on August 6 after a 30-day investigation, had earlier disclosed the existence of two other fictitious bodies, the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
The latest, National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office is the fourth fake agency uncovered following the PFIFC scandal which broke in April.
