The revelations are contained in the commission’s interim investigation into the controversial agency, which the Federal Government has said was never legally established. The investigation was ordered by President Bola Tinubu following the discovery that Adeyemi had allegedly used forged government documents to present the organisation as a legitimate federal agency.

According to the ICPC report, the alleged scheme went beyond the use of forged documents, as some government officials reportedly processed applications and facilitated approvals that enabled the purported agency to operate within the federal bureaucracy.

Among the officials named by the commission are Rose Achem, a senior administrative officer to the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation; Patricia Akhigbe, an assistant director in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning; and Mimi Abu, director of Organisation Design and Development at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

The ICPC said the officials were involved in processes that enabled the purported PFIPC to obtain an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver.

Investigators alleged that Achem introduced Akhigbe to Abu as the head of human resources of the PFIPC, despite Akhigbe being an assistant director in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

The commission said the process eventually facilitated approval of the purported agency’s establishment and recruitment arrangements.

How the agency gained government recognition

The ICPC investigation found that Adeyemi began seeking formal recognition from government institutions in November 2024, when he approached the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for an administrative code, self-accounting status and approval to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He reportedly submitted documents including an appointment letter, an establishment instrument and a letter on State House letterhead purportedly signed by an official identified as Akanbi Adewale.

Investigators subsequently found that the alleged official did not exist and that forensic examination indicated the letter attributed to him had actually been signed by Adeyemi.

Despite the irregularities, the documents were processed by government institutions.

On 27 May 2025, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation granted the purported agency self-accounting status and assigned it administrative code 0111062001.

The move enabled the organisation to secure recognition in the 2026 federal budget and gain access to government financial systems. The OAGF also created a Government Integrated Financial Management Information System platform and a Sub-Treasury Account for the purported agency.

The office later directed the CBN to create two domiciliary accounts for the organisation. The CBN subsequently told the House of Representatives that the accounts were never activated because authorised signatories were not provided.

Alleged payments to officials

The investigation also examined financial transactions involving some of the officials allegedly connected to the scheme.

According to the findings reported from the ICPC investigation, Patricia Akhigbe allegedly received ₦500,000 from Adeyemi as an “Easter thank-you,” while Aminu Abdullahi, an official involved in office allocation at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, allegedly received ₦3.25 million in three separate payments.

The ICPC is examining whether the payments were connected to assistance allegedly provided to the purported agency.

Abdullahi was also accused of helping the organisation secure office space at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, despite the absence of written approval for the allocation.

Investigation continues

The ICPC’s findings have deepened concerns over how a purported government agency without a valid legal foundation was able to obtain official recognition, office accommodation, budgetary status and access to government financial systems.

In a subsequent report, the commission recommended administrative action against 13 public officials over their alleged roles in the scandal. It also recommended that Adeyemi be prosecuted for alleged forgery, impersonation, false statements to public officers and criminal misrepresentation.

The commission has further recommended investigations into the roles of officials in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance, as well as other individuals and institutions connected to the purported agency.

The Presidency had earlier stated that the PFIPC was never established by any law, executive order, presidential instrument or other valid government action. Adeyemi has denied wrongdoing and maintained that his appointment was legitimate.

The ICPC investigation is expected to help determine the extent of official involvement and whether additional individuals or institutions should face administrative or criminal consequences.

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They include M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah.

Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN disclosed this to State House correspondents on Friday after briefing the President for the second time in two days, following an earlier meeting on Thursday.

Aliyu said the newly uncovered fake office, operating under the name “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office,” had been illegally allocated office space within the premises of the OSGF, contrary to extant laws and without presidential authorisation.

He said, “Upon further briefing by ICPC to Mr President on the ongoing investigations into the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and procedural weaknesses in the public service, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has uncovered another fake agency and office operating under the name National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, which has been illegally allocated office space within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” Aliyu said.

He said the discovery emerged in the course of the commission’s broader investigation, as earlier directed by President Tinubu, and identified the promoter of the fake office as one Prince George Buchi Nwabueze, who was found to be operating under multiple aliases.

“The fake agency office, National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, was promoted by one George Buchi Nwabueze, with active suspected collaborators in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, contrary to extant laws and without authorisation of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, announced this in a statement on Tuesday evening.

The statement reads: “In exercise of powers conferred on the President as established in Section 3(6) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and in furtherance of the Renewed Hope mandate to reform key institutions and invigorate Nigeria’s war on corruption, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of a new management team for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), pending Senate confirmation:

Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu — Chairman / Chief Executive Officer, ICPC

Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu — Secretary to the Commission, ICPC

“The new Chairman of the ICPC is nominated for confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, following the President’s approval of the outgoing Chairman’s request to proceed on pre-end of tenure leave beginning on November 4, 2023, ahead of the expiration of his tenure on February 3, 2024.

“The position of Secretary to the Commission does not require Senate confirmation and, therefore, by the directive of the President, the appointment of Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu as Secretary of the Commission takes immediate effect.

“Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu has embarked upon many far-reaching reforms as the Attorney General of Jigawa State since September 2019 and holds Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees in Law. He was also named as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria-designate in October 2023.

“Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu is a lawyer with over 30 years of experience and has served meritoriously in the public service as a Member of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission and Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council.

“The President implores the new management team of the ICPC to always be above board as they discharge their duties without fear or favour concerning all matters before them.

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The swearing-in took place shortly before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday.

The reappointed ICPC board members sworn in by the President include Retired Justice Adamu Bello (Katsina), Hannatu Mohammed (Jigwa), Olubukola Balogun (Lagos), Obiora Samuel Igwedibia (Anambra), Abdullahi Saidu (Niger), Yahaya Umar Dauda (Nasarawa) and Grace Chinyere (Rivers).

Physically present at the meeting are Vice President Yemi  Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari; National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno (Rtd).

Some Ministers, who are physically attending the meeting, include the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami; Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Labor and Employment, Chris Ngige; Agriculture, Mahmood Mohammed; Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi; Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu; Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu; Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu and the Minister of State for Health, Olorunimbe Mamora.

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According to Premium Times, the musician was arrested and detained Tuesday after ICPC operatives closed in on him, forcing him to surrender himself at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, sources familiar with the matter said.

D’banj, insiders said, had dodged summons for weeks, claiming to be overseas for scheduled concerts each time he was invited to appear for interrogation over fraud allegation.

The pop star, a wealthy Nigerian celebrity, is accused of fraudulently diverting hundreds of naira earmarked by the Nigerian government for N-Power project, an empowerment programme set up by the Nigerian government in 2016 to address youth unemployment and increase social development.

Investigators allege that D’banj colluded with some compromised government officials to introduce ghost beneficiaries into the payroll of the scheme. The stipend paid to those beneficiaries are then paid to accounts that have now allegedly been linked to the pop star.

After the musician failed to show up for interrogation despite multiple invitations, the ICPC moved to arrest him anywhere in Nigeria and abroad, forcing him to show up at the commission’s office on Tuesday.

On arrival, D’banj was subjected to a prolonged interrogation session after which he was detained. His plea for administrative bail was rejected by officials who said the musician could not be trusted to attend his trial if released on bail.

ICPC might approach the court on Wednesday for an extended remand order to enable the agency complete its investigation before charging the musician to court.

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In a circular signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, the National Summit is an annual event designed to review and update efforts in the fight against corruption especially in the public sector as part of the Anti-Corruption Agenda of the present administration. The high point of the Summit will be the presentation of Public Service Integrity Award to deserving public servants who have performed exceptional acts of integrity in the year.

In view of the above, the SGF wishes to remind all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to forward one nomination each to ICPC providing profile of the nominee as well as a brief description of the act of integrity carried out by the officer in not more than 500 words.

The best two nominees according to the circular, will be selected for the award which will be presented by Mr. President at the 3rd National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector.

All such nominations from MDAs should reach ICPC on or before Monday, 16th August, 2021.

For further enquiries, MDAs are please requested to contact Mrs. Azuka C. Ogugua, the ICPC Spokesperson through mobile phone number 08058271830 and via email azuka.ogugua@icpc.gov.ng.

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Another N2.5 billion appropriated for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture was also detected in the personal account of deceased staff of the ministry who was also discovered to be in possession of landed assets including 18 buildings, 12 business premises, and 25 plots of land.

ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye made the revelations at the 2nd National Summit on Diminishing Corruption themed: “Together Against Corruption and Launch of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy.”

Owasanoye said under the Open Treasury Portal review carried out by the anti-corruption agency between January to August 15, 2020, out of 268 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) 72 of them had cumulative infractions of N90 million.

He said 33 of them gave explanations that N4.1 billion was transferred to sub-TSA, while N4.2 billion paid to individuals had no satisfactory explanations.

“We observed that transfers to sub-TSA were to prevent disbursement from being monitored. Nevertheless, we discovered payments to some federal colleges for school feeding in the sum of N2.67 billion during lockdown when the children are not in school, and some of the money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings,” the ICPC boss said.

Speaking further, he said under its 2020 constituency and executive projects tracking initiative, 722 projects with a threshold of N100 million (490 ZiP and 232 executives) were tracked across 16 states.

He also revealed that a number of projects described as ongoing in the budget were found to be new projects that ought to have been excluded in order to enable the government to complete existing projects.

The ICPC chairman said some of the constituency projects were sited in private houses on private land thus appropriating common assets for personal use while denying communities of the benefit.

Other anomalies cited include the absence of synergy between outgoing project sponsors and their successors.

He said the agency found out that uncompleted projects sponsored by legislators who do not return get abandoned, while some use companies owned by sponsor’s friends or relatives or companies belonging to civil servants in implementing MDAs to execute projects which are either abandoned or poorly performed.

“We discovered conspiracies between legislative aides of sponsors and implementing MDAs and contractors to undermine the quality of project without knowledge of the sponsor; vague project description that results in the diversion of funds by implementing MDAs or project sponsor with the collusion of contractors and absence of community ownership of the project because they were not consulted or largely ignorant of projects allocated to them,” he said.

The ICPC chairman said in the education sector, 78 MDAs were reviewed and common cases of misuse of funds were uncovered.

Some of the discoveries include life payment of bulk sums to individuals/staff accounts, including project funds; non-deductions/remittance of taxes and IGR; payments of unapproved allowances, bulk payment to microfinance banks, payment of arrears of salary and other allowances of previous years from 2020 budget, payment of salary advance to staff, under-deduction of PAYE and payment of promotion arrears due to surplus in Personnel Cost, abuse and granting of cash advances above the approved threshold and irregular payment of allowances to principal officers.

On asset recovery, Owasanoye said the commission recovered N16 billion from the Ministry of Agriculture, paid into individual accounts for non-official purposes.

Speaking on the achievements of the agency, he disclosed that the ICPC secured N3 billion, through administrative Court and recovery of $173,000 through the whistle-blower unit of FMFB&P from an erring oil company, as well as £160,000 in a UK-bank in an ongoing interim forfeiture.

“These figures exclude quantum of recoveries on return or contractors to site as a result of project tracking initiatives.

“It should however be noted that some of these assets are subjected to ongoing cases and where suspects proved their cases physical or liquid assets will be released in accordance with laid down laws, guidelines or court directives,” he said.

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ICPC is the apex body vested with the responsibility to fight corruption and related offenses in Nigeria. It was set up and empowered by the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and inaugurated on the 29th of September 2000.

President Muhammad Buhari is billed to launch the “National Ethics and Integrity Policy” during the Webinar.

As part of the celebration, ICPC had kicked off the anniversary celebration with a music competition alongside an Essay Competition and Integrity Awards to deserving civil servants.

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