BREAKING: Tinubu Suspends Three Permanent Secretaries, Orders Arrest Over Fake Agency

• President Bola Tinubu has suspended three permanent secretaries and 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.

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the suspension of three permanent secretaries and the arrest of an individual following the discovery of another fake 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.

The President also directed the immediate arrest of George Buchi Nwabueze, identified as the promoter of the fake agency.

Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, disclosed the development while briefing State House correspondents on Friday after meeting with the President for the second time in two days.

According to Aliyu, the newly uncovered fake office operates under the name “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office.”

He said the office had been illegally allocated space within the premises of the OSGF without presidential authorisation and in violation of existing laws.

“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 operating 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 discovery was made during the commission’s broader investigation into fictitious agencies and offices, following an earlier directive from President Tinubu.

He added that the ICPC had engaged the OSGF to obtain vital information concerning the fake office and had fully briefed the President on the latest findings.

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

According to Aliyu, the President subsequently directed the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of the three permanent secretaries.

“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,” he said.

The latest discovery comes amid an ongoing investigation into fictitious government agencies following the exposure of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose self-styled Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, is currently facing prosecution over allegations of forgery and impersonation.

An interim ICPC report submitted to the President on August 6, following a 30-day investigation, had also revealed the existence of two other fictitious bodies: 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 is the fourth fake agency uncovered in connection with the ongoing investigation since the PFIFC scandal emerged in April.

The ICPC said investigations into the latest development would continue.