President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries and directed the arrest of a man linked to the discovery of another allegedly fake government 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.
Tinubu also ordered the arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze, identified as the promoter of the newly discovered office.
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Musa Aliyu, disclosed the development on Friday after briefing the President at the State House for the second consecutive day.
The ICPC chairman said investigators uncovered an office operating under the name National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office within the premises of the OSGF.
According to Aliyu, the office was allocated space within the government complex without the required legal backing and without approval from the President.
The discovery was made as part of the wider investigation ordered by Tinubu following the earlier exposure of a fictitious government body.
Aliyu identified Nwabueze as the person behind the newly uncovered office and said investigations had also revealed that he operated using several different versions of his name.
The names linked to him include George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze.
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The ICPC chairman also disclosed that investigators suspected the involvement of some officials within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in the activities surrounding the fake office.
He said the commission had been working with the OSGF to obtain information needed for the investigation and had presented the latest findings to the President.
Following the briefing, Tinubu ordered the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of the three permanent secretaries pending further investigation into their alleged roles in the matter.
The latest discovery adds another layer to the investigation into fictitious government bodies that has been unfolding since the exposure of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
The alleged head of that organisation, Adeniyi Adeyemi, is currently facing prosecution over accusations bordering on forgery and impersonation.
An interim report submitted by the ICPC to Tinubu on August 6, following a 30-day investigation, had also revealed two other bodies suspected to be fictitious.
They were identified as 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 now becomes the fourth allegedly fake agency uncovered in connection with the wider investigation.
The ICPC is expected to continue its probe to establish how the office was allowed to operate from government premises, identify other officials or individuals involved and determine whether public resources were used in its activities.
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