Embattled National Coordinator and Executive Director of the Made-in-Nigeria Project Office, an agency which existence is now under investigation, Nwabueze Buchi George, has dismissed growing public scrutiny of his organisation, telling critics that only their own lack of awareness could explain why they were just discovering a programme that had existed for 16 years.

This was even as officials of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, declined to comment on the controversy trailing the outfit.

Nwabueze’s comment, posted on LinkedIn in reaction to questions trailing his outfit, amid the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s clampdown on the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, described the scrutiny as a failure of observation rather than a legitimate query about the agency’s status.

“How can you discover a 16 years program in 2026, it’s means you have been blind, we are committed to the national development,” he wrote.

The remark followed a series of posts in which Nwabueze had traced the origin of his outfit to a June 15, 2010 initiative, presenting a letter from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, dated July 19, 2010, as part of that history.

That letter, however, was addressed to a “Buchi George” of The Hats Centre in Owerri, Imo State, and concerned the endorsement of a project, titled “Made In Naija” for an event in Ireland, rather than any Made-in-Nigeria brand development scheme.

His claim of 16 years of continuous operation also runs against a separate document he posted, an appointment letter from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation dated October 3, 2025, which formally conveyed his appointment as National Coordinator/Executive Director of the Made in Nigeria Project Office under a five-year tenure that began in July 2025.

Materials Nwabueze has circulated to promote the office described it as an initiative to “Drive Local Production Development” under an “Industrialise Nigeria” campaign.

The Made in Nigeria Project Office has come under scrutiny, following the ICPC’s investigation into what it describes as a fraudulent federal agency operating under a similar name, with questions raised over the legal basis, funding, and oversight of Nwabueze’s outfit within the Office of the SGF.

Efforts by Vanguard to get the OSGF’s position on the matter proved abortive, as the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Yomi Odunuga, did not respond to enquiries, while the Head, Information and Public Relations at the OSGF, Chris Ugbuegbulam, was unreachable.

With the OSGF’s silence leaving the questions unanswered, the legal basis, funding, and oversight of Nwabueze’s outfit within the presidency remain in the realm of speculation.

However, a review of the Made in Nigeria Project Office’s website showed the portraits of 20 state coordinators, including those of Kogi, Bauchi, Oyo, Taraba, Kano, Ondo, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Zamfara, Abia, Sokoto, Ogun, Anambra, Osun, Kebbi, and Delta.

Anambra SSG clarifies involvement in ‘fake’ federal agency

Clarifying her involvement in the activities of the fake agency weekend, the Secretary to Anambra State Government, SSG, Chiamaka Nnake, said the office was planning to organise a Made-in-Nigeria fair in the state after she was nominated as the “focal person” for Anambra State.

She said following the nominations, “focal persons” from the 36 states had been in a WhatsApp group discussing issues relating to the activities of the office.

In a statement she released late on Saturday, Nnake said the office wrote to the state requesting that Anambra should host the South-East Made-in-Nigeria Fair.

The statement read: “I wish to clarify the circumstances surrounding the trending news concerning the purported ‘Made-in-Nigeria Agency’, in which my photograph has been displayed and I have been identified as one of the state coordinators.

“In January 2026, the governor received a letter from the Made-in-Nigeria Office, said to be under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, requesting the nomination of a State Focal Person.

“In response, the governor, in February 2026, nominated me as the state focal person for Anambra State.

“Following the nominations, focal persons from the 36 states have been in a WhatsApp group engaging on issues relating to the activities of the office.

“More recently, the same office wrote to the state requesting that Anambra host the South-East Made-in-Nigeria Fair.

“The request was approved, and an inaugural meeting was held about two weeks ago, with the national coordinator in attendance.”

According to her, the state committee has since been working on preparations for the fair, which was scheduled to take place from December 2 to 5, 2026.

“Beyond these official interactions and engagements, she has no knowledge of, involvement in, or connection with any other activities, claims, or developments attributed to the said office.

“I therefore wish to make it clear that anything beyond the above-mentioned official interactions is entirely outside my knowledge and involvement,” she added.

Bureaucratic weaknesses allowed fraud to thrive – Ex-perm sec

Meanwhile, former Permanent Secretary of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Goke Adeboroye, yesterday identified weaknesses in Nigeria’s bureaucratic system as reason for penetration of the government by an alleged fake presidential agency.

Adeboroye spoke on Channels Television’s Inside Sources, posted on YouTube yesterday, following the discovery by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, which the commission said operated with forged appointment letters and other official documents.

He said the incident raised questions about how an individual could allegedly gain entry into the government system, secure an appointment, access budgetary provisions and obtain office space without the relevant authorities detecting the irregularities.

“The exposure of that fake presidential agency is a major lapse to say that somebody can actually come into the system, get in on the budget, get offices, and all of that,” he said.

Adeboroye identified weaknesses in the bureaucratic capacity of key offices within the Presidency and government, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service.

He said the bureaucracy supporting these offices must be sufficiently capable of helping the President implement his policies while providing the necessary checks to prevent fraudulent or unlawful directives from taking effect.

“The bureaucracy in those offices are not strong enough to be able to help the President drive the vision at the speed and with the efficiency that he wants,” Adeboroye said.

He said the incident also highlighted the relationship between political office holders and career civil servants.

He noted that while political appointees issue directives, civil servants must have the professional competence and integrity to question instructions that do not conform with established procedures.

“The political office holders are principals to the bureaucracy, and a lot of times, the bureaucracy takes directives from them.

“You need a bureaucracy that is not just professional but also has the capacity. The commitment to the system is also driven by his own or her own personal integrity,” he said.

Adeboroye said civil servants should be able to identify suspicious communications purportedly originating from the Presidency because they are familiar with the established channels through which presidential approvals are transmitted.

“Whether the person brings fake or whatever, you as the civil servant should be trained to be able to detect what should be a genuine communication from the State House. You work in that system,” he said.

He explained that presidential approvals ordinarily pass through established channels involving senior government officials.

“When the President approves anything, he always minutes to about three people. He goes to the Chief of Staff, he goes to SGF, and if he has something to do with civil service, the Head of Service will have it.”

According to him, the existence of such channels should enable officials to verify questionable directives before acting on them.

Adeboroye recalled an incident from his time as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior involving a former governor who claimed to have presidential approval for a diplomatic passport.

He said the then Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Ude, did not act immediately but cross-checked the purported approval before proceeding.

Adeboroye said the official discovered that there was indeed an approval but sought an audience to advise the President on whether the former governor, who was no longer in office, should be granted a diplomatic passport.

He said the official’s action demonstrated the importance of experience and knowledge of government procedures in preventing irregularities.

“That’s somebody using the experience of the system to ensure that you are not outplayed,” he said.

Adeboroye added that officials could have easily verified the authenticity of questionable directives through direct communication with the relevant offices.

“So we would have expected that on a simple phone call, when I was working in the office of Ekaette, Secretary of Government, I could pick a phone, call any minister, call this, it’s just a phone call from the office of whoever to say, ‘Chief of Staff, is this true’? And that would have actually corrected it,” he said. (Vanguard)

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