George Nwabueze says his 16-year-old office was legitimately appointed by the OSGF, directly contradicting ICPC’s fictitious agency claim.
George Buchi Nwabueze, the man ICPC has accused of running a fake federal agency and whose arrest President Bola Tinubu has ordered, has denied the allegation, producing what he says is a genuine appointment letter from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
Nwabueze, National Coordinator and Executive Director of the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, told Sunday Punch that his office operated under OSGF supervision and had existed for 16 years, calling it “a funny country” for a programme running since 2010 to be labelled fake overnight.
What ICPC alleges against Nwabueze
ICPC Chairman Musa Adamu Aliyu told State House correspondents on Friday that the office was uncovered during the commission’s wider investigation into the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), and had allegedly been allocated space within OSGF premises without presidential authorisation.
Aliyu alleged that Nwabueze operated under several variations of his name, including George Nathan, George Nathan Nwabueze and Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, with the suspected backing of senior OSGF public servants.
Following the briefing, Tinubu ordered Nwabueze’s arrest and suspended three permanent secretaries, Nadungu Gagare, M.S. Danjuma and Richard Pheelangwah, pending further investigation.
The documents Nwabueze says prove his legitimacy
Responding on LinkedIn, Nwabueze published what he describes as his appointment letter, dated 3 October 2025 and signed by Gagare in his capacity as Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs Office.
The letter reportedly confirms a five-year, renewable appointment beginning July 2025, covering supervision of state and regional coordinators, trade expos and promotional programmes for Nigerian-made goods, and describes the arrangement as existing “at the pleasure of” the SGF.
He also shared a separate April 2025 document proposing that the initiative be granted formal Special Project status, citing years of trade exhibitions and claimed contributions to foreign investment, job creation and non-oil economic diversification.
Separately, Vanguard reported that the organisation has claimed a Federal Executive Council approval dating back to 2017, under the Buhari administration, predating the current government by six years.
A structure spanning states and countries
Checks on the organisation’s website and social media, run under the handle “@pmainpro,” show a claimed structure with coordinators across roughly 20 states and representatives listed in the United States and China.
A stakeholders’ report shared by Nwabueze’s office also quoted Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule describing how the state had domesticated the initiative and included it in its 2026 budget.
However, an OSGF staff member told Sunday Punch the office had in fact been shut for months pending investigation, leaving the competing accounts, ICPC’s fictitious-agency finding against Nwabueze’s paper trail of apparent official backing, unresolved.
The OSGF spokesperson asked for a formal letter before commenting, while ICPC’s spokesperson could not be reached. Police sources said no manhunt had yet begun, pending formal briefing on the case.
The Nwabueze case is the third fictitious agency ICPC has linked to its broader PFIPC probe, following earlier disclosures involving Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who has separately been charged with forgery and impersonation after failing to appear in court.
