President Bola Ahmed Tinubu President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

…Latest discovery demonstrates need to tighten institutional controls, close administrative loopholes

Following the discovery of another fake agency by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of a certain Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, the alleged promoter of an unauthorised government office, and the suspension of three permanent secretaries.

The affected permanent secretaries are: M. S. Danjuma, Engr. Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah.

The directive came after the Commission specifically uncovered another fictitious government entity operating under the name National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office.

The ICPC chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, announced the development on Friday after briefing the President on emerging findings from the commission’s investigation into fake agencies and weaknesses in federal administrative procedures.

Blueprint recalls that the discovery has come barely weeks after the Commission exposed the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which prompted President Tinubu to order a comprehensive investigation into its establishment and activities.

Aliyu said the latest entity allegedly obtained an office accommodation within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), despite having no presidential authorisation to function as a federal agency.

He said the investigators discovered this as they widened their probe into the PFIPC and examined how unauthorised organisations could gain access into official government facilities and present themselves as legitimate public institutions.

The ICPC identified Prince George Buchi Nwabueze as the alleged promoter of the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office.

He said the suspect was found to have operated under several variations of his name, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Hon. George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze.

Aliyu said the Commission was engaging relevant OSGF officials to determine how the purported agency secured accommodation on the government premises and to identify those who might have facilitated its operations.

“I have briefed Mr. President comprehensively on these new developments. ICPC will continue with its investigations,” he said.

He said investigation was expected to establish the roles allegedly played by the three suspended officials and other individuals in the creation, accommodation, and operation of the purported office.

Aliyu said the latest discovery demonstrated the urgent need to tighten institutional controls, scrutinise internal approval procedures, and close administrative loopholes that could be exploited to confer an appearance of official legitimacy on unauthorised bodies.

He commended the president for directing a wider policy audit of federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as internal government processes.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, must be commended for the proactive step of directing the policy audit of MDAs and internal government processes towards strengthening the governance system,” he said.

He said the fresh findings had broadened the ICPC investigation beyond the activities of individual suspects to the institutional failures that might have allowed fictitious entities to operate within federal establishments.

It would be recalled further that Friday’s development is the latest in a scandal that started with the exposure of the fabricated Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose self-appointed Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, is at present being prosecuted on forgery and impersonation charges.

The National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office is the fourth fake agency that has been uncovered after the PFIFC’s in early April.