What began as an investigation into the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) allegedly created by Adeniyi Adeyemi has now opened another disturbing chapter, with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) uncovering a second unauthorised outfit operating from within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, disclosed on Friday that investigators discovered an office operating as the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, allegedly promoted by George Buchi Nwabueze.
A photograph circulating online presents Nwabueze as “Executive Director/National Coordinator” of the organisation, suggesting how convincingly the outfit projected itself as a legitimate government institution.
According to Aliyu, the discovery did not come from a separate complaint but emerged directly from the commission’s wider probe into the Adeyemi-led PFIPC and weaknesses within the public service.
President Bola Tinubu had ordered ICPC to investigate how Adeyemi’s purported agency operated for years from government premises despite having no lawful basis.
Investigators had earlier established that Adeyemi was never appointed by the Federal Government, while documents allegedly used to legitimise PFIPC—including an appointment letter and gazette—were forged.
ICPC also uncovered two other purported entities linked to that investigation: the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
Now, the investigation has produced another surprise. Aliyu said the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office had been allocated office space within the OSGF premises without presidential authorisation.
Nwabueze was also allegedly found to have operated under several variations of his name, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze, Honourable George Buchi Nwabueze and Prince George Buchi Nwabueze.
Tinubu has responded with immediate action, directing the arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of three Permanent Secretaries — M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah — pending further investigation.
Beyond Nwabueze, however, lies the bigger question: How did an organisation bearing an official-sounding national mandate secure office space inside the heart of the Federal Government without presidential approval?
That is precisely where the Adeyemi saga becomes significant. What initially appeared to be one man allegedly parading himself as a government-appointed official is increasingly exposing institutional gaps that may have allowed fictitious bodies to acquire offices, identities and the appearance of official legitimacy.
For Tinubu’s administration, therefore, the unfolding scandal is no longer merely about Adeyemi or Nwabueze.
It is becoming a test of how deeply government will probe the bureaucratic loopholes that made it possible for alleged phantom agencies to operate within government structures — and how many more may still be hiding in plain sight.
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