The presidency and the federal government have been rocked by another fake government agency scandal. The latest fictitious agency saga is coming just a month after the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) agency imbroglio involving one Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who is said to be the Director General of the agenc,y and Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
While the dust raised by the PFIPC saga is yet to fully settle, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has now uncovered another spurious government agency named the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office.
The agency portrayed itself as a body with full government backing and authorisation to promote Nigerian products, support businesses and drive the country’s transition to a production-led economy. According to the bio and mission statement on its website, it claimed to be a “strategic initiative” of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation with a mandate to promote the production, consumption and global visibility of locally made goods and services.
It has a national coordinator, zonal directors, state coordinators and representatives in the United States and China.
Its purported duties and responsibilities.
According to information on its website, the organisation stated that it was saddled with a wide range of responsibilities, chief of which were promoting awareness and consumption of Made-in-Nigeria products, encouraging local production, facilitating foreign direct investment through trade shows and economic forums, supporting government policies on industrialisation and job creation, and providing SMEs with tools, training and resources to compete in global markets.
It also claimed to drive Nigeria’s transition “from a consumption-driven to a production-led economy.” Its stated core mandates included plans to “revive moribund factories” through investment models such as Build-Own-Operate-Transfer and foreign direct investment. It also said it would develop a “National Labelling and Anti-Counterfeiting System” to improve product authenticity and quality assurance.
Other claimed functions included supporting national clusters, innovation hubs and research and development centres, as well as showcasing Nigerian products at expos, fairs and economic forums through a proposed National Products Gallery. The organisation said it aimed to introduce and promote Nigerian brands at home and abroad, while its focus areas included local consumption, SME empowerment, standardisation, market access and strategic collaboration.
Its leadership page names Nwabueze as “National Coordinator & Executive Director”.
It also lists Dr Bassey B. Unaowo as “Special Assistant to the Permanent Secretary on Political and Economic Affairs, OSGF”; Dr Hajara Njidda Amoni as Director of National Administration; Oladunjoye Musiliua as Zonal Director, South-West; Hafsat Sahabi Dange as Zonal Director, North, and Ugochi Akudo Nwosu as Zonal Director, South-East. The website further lists 20 state coordinators across the country, as well as representatives for the United States and China.
That structure and portfolio are important as it gave the organisation an appearance that makes it look like a legitimate and established government agency running a legal programme with officials operating across the federation.
Agency’s creation
The organisation claimed the idea of the office was conceived in 2006. However, a bill that was supposed to create the agency was not passed into law; hence, the office was not formally established.
The proposed legislation titled “A Bill for an Act to Establish the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Promotion Commission and for Related Matters” sought the establishment of a statutory commission responsible for promoting Nigerian goods and services, supporting local industries, facilitating investment and developing a national framework for Made-in-Nigeria products.
The document, however, is a proposed bill. Its presence on the organisation’s website does not, by itself, automatically establish that the agency has been created by an Act of Parliament.
It claimed the initiative was later formalised under the leadership of Ambassador Chike Alex Anigbo (MNI) and approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2017. According to the website, the project initially operated as a public-private partnership with Trade Nigeria and subsequently underwent “test cases” involving Nigeria and Ireland, South Korea, Singapore and Poland.
The façade and charade unravels
However, this elaborate and grand structure underpinned by an ambitious blueprint and mission statement appears to be nothing more than a contrived scheme to hoodwink and fleece unsuspecting government officials and members of the public, with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) describing it as a fictitious government office operating without presidential authorisation.
Following the outing of the organisation by the ICPC, President Bola Tinubu ordered the immediate arrest of George Nwabueze, whom the ICPC claimed is the promoter of the alleged fake office. The president also ordered the suspension of three permanent secretaries, including M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah, following the discovery.
The ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu, SAN, said on Friday that the commission had uncovered the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office operating within the OSGF. Aliyu said the office had been illegally allocated space within the OSGF premises, contrary to extant laws and without presidential authorisation.
He identified George Buchi Nwabueze as the promoter and said he operated under several variations of his name, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze, Prince George Buchi Nwabueze and George Nwabueze. ICPC also said there were suspected collaborators within the OSGF.
The commission’s disclosure has raised concern about how an organisation that presented itself as part of the Federal Government could establish a nationwide network and engage with public institutions and subnational governments. It has also elicited questions about how the organisation secured office space within the OSGF premises and how its activities became known to, and in some cases featured in communications from, government institutions
The bigger picture.
The discovery is the latest in the slew of spurious agency scandals that have dogged the federal government in recent times. It came after the exposure of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, whose self-styled director-general, Adeniyi Adeyemi, is now facing prosecution over alleged forgery and impersonation.
The ease with which it is to set up these agencies has been attributed to chronic systemic weakness and institutional failure that typified the Nigerian government. This development has deepened concern about the lack of due diligence, background checks and laser-focused efficiency at the highest levels of government, which has made it easy for fictitious organisations to be embedded in crucial public office.
The ICPC investigation will now have to establish how the purported fake organisation secured access to government premises, who approved or facilitated its activities, whether public resources were used and whether individuals within government helped sustain its claimed status
An ICPC interim report submitted to Tinubu on August 6, after a 30-day investigation, also identified 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 therefore the fourth fictitious body uncovered in the investigation.
