The controversy over the status of the project might have been triggered by an internal disagreement between the promoter of the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, George Nwabueze and some directors in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
Some officials of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) was misled into looking at the initiative as an unauthorized government agency.
The officials say a dispute between Nwabueze and some directors led to a petition to the anti-corruption agency alleging the project office is fake.
One of the officials said the organization was established as a project office, not as a statutory government agency.
It’s not a fake agency, one official said. It is an Office Project. Some directors deceived the ICPC that it is a fake agency.
“There was a disagreement between him (Nwabueze) and some directors over some issues, which made the directors to petition the ICPC alleging that some person was running a fake office.
“Instead of doing due diligence, the ICPC saw it as an opportunity to make a statement that they have discovered another fake agency. No, not at all. It’s a project office, not an agency. “It can go down at any point.”
“How does a project office become an agency, and why has it been working in that office since 2010? “The ICPC didn’t find anything, some people at the SGF’s office who have scores to settle with the promoter of that office misled them,” another official said.
Remember that the ICPC had announced that it had uncovered what it described as another fake government agency operating in the OSGF.
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN) told State House correspondents that he briefed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who ordered the arrest and prosecution of Nwabueze and the suspension of three Permanent Secretaries.
The suspended PS are Nandungu Gagare, MS Danjuma and Richard Pheelangwa.
However, days after the President directive, a highly placed source in the ICPC office said no arrest had been made and that Nwabueze was not in the Commission’s custody.
“That’s all I can say,” said the source.
Meanwhile, Nwabueze also disagreed with the description of the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office as an unauthorized government agency.
In a statement issued on his behalf by the Directorate of Legal Affairs and Strategic Communications, he accused some serving and retired officials of the OSGF of frustrating the project through administrative sabotage and suppression of official files.
He said the project is a public-private special initiative working under the OSGF and not a separate agency.
The statement said he petitioned the SGF over the alleged withholding of strategic project files including one relating to the country’s advance delegation to the Asia-Africa Summit 2026 and sub-national energy programs on May 15, 2026.
He said he has instituted Suit No. CV/2634/26 before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, due to what he described as threats of administrative eviction and file suppression.
The suit, he said, was filed to prevent any move to take the project out of the OSGF without following the proper administrative process.
“The whole thing is subjudice before a competent court of jurisdiction,” he said.
The project is based on Executive Orders 003 and 005 of 2017 and 2018, he said.
He also referenced the PS-PEAO/2025/008/4, from the Office of Political and Economic Affairs (OPEA) of the OSGF, as a support for the institutional status of the project.
He said the correspondence approved establishment of a five-member technical committee to oversee the project’s development objectives, monitoring framework and public-private implementation structures.
ICPC’s reaction to the new allegations was sought by the aforementioned platform, but without success.
Similarly, the SGF spokesman Christopher Ugwuegbulam declined a request to comment on the allegations without a formal request.
If you want to know my reaction to the allegations, write to us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Presidency said on Friday that the ICPC had not yet concluded its investigation into how fictitious government agencies operated undetected within the office of the SGF.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has urged Nigerians to exercise patience and wait for the final recommendations of the commission before deciding on culpability.
President Tinubu, he said, expects the ICPC to conduct the investigation to its logical conclusion and report back to him.
He said “The ICPC has not finished their work. They are to make recommendations to the President at the conclusion of their investigation and he expects them to do so.
They have submitted their preliminary report, they are continuing with their work and the President has asked them to make recommendations on how to strengthen the system where weaknesses have been spotted.
“The ICPC has said they have found weaknesses in the system so let’s wait for them to do their job.”
