The controversy over the status of the project may have been instigated by an internal disagreement between 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 viewing 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 a statutory government agency.
It’s not a phony agency, one official said. It is an Office Project. Some directors misled 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 the ICPC doing due diligence, it saw it as an opportunity to make a statement that they have discovered another fake agency. Not at all. It’s a project office, not an agency. “It can shut down at any point.”
“How does a project office become an agency, and why has it been working in that office since 2010? Another official said, “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.
Remember that the ICPC had announced that it had uncovered what it described as another fake government agency operating in the OSGF.
Briefing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN) told State House correspondents that the President 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 that no arrest had been made and that Nwabueze was not in the Commission’s custody.
“That’s all I can say,” the source said.
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.
“It is a special project of the OSGF and not an independent agency,” he said.
He petitioned the SGF on May 15, 2026 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, the statement said.
He stated that he has filed Suit No. CV/2634/26 before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on account of what he termed threats of administrative eviction and file suppression.
He said the suit was filed to prevent any attempt to take the project out of the OSGF without going through the proper administrative process.
“The entire matter is subjudice before a court of competent jurisdiction,” he said.
He said the project is based on Executive Orders 003 and 005 of 2017 and 2018.
He also cited the referenced PS-PEAO/2025/008/4, from the Political and Economic Affairs Office of the OSGF, as support to the project’s institutional status.
He said the correspondence approved a five-member technical committee to oversee the project’s development objectives, monitoring framework and public-private implementation structures.
The aforementioned platform sought to get ICPC’s reaction on the new allegations, but failed.
Likewise, the SGF spokesman Christopher Ugwuegbulam declined a request to react to the allegations without a formal request.
“If you want to know my reaction to the allegations, write to us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Friday said the ICPC had yet to conclude its investigation into how fictitious government agencies operated undetected within the SGF office.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has called on Nigerians to exercise patience and wait for the final recommendations of the commission before taking a decision on culpability.
President Tinubu, he said, expects the ICPC to take the investigation to its logical conclusion and report back to him.
He said that “The ICPC has not completed their work. They are supposed to make recommendations to the President at the end 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.”