How Anambra govt got involved in ‘fake’ federal agency – Official

The Anambra State Government has detailed how the state government got involved with the recently uncovered fake federal agency in Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported on Friday that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) uncovered another “fake” agency, with President Bola Tinubu suspending three top officials identified as enablers and ordering the arrest of the frontrunner, George Nwabueze.

The phoney agency, known as the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, was said to be operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

The suspected permanent secretaries are M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare, and Richard P. Pheelangwah.

However, Mr Nwabueze, who describes himself as the National Coordinator and Executive Director of the agency, has continued to reject the ICPC’s allegation that the organisation was operating without government authorisation.

The agency had coordinators across different states in Nigeria, including Anambra State.

How we were tricked by the fake agency

In a statement on Sunday, the Secretary to the Anambra State Government (SSG), Chiamaka Nnake, said she was appointed as the state coordinator for the fake agency after Governor Charles Soludo received a letter from the office in January requesting nomination of a focal person from the state.

“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,” Ms Nnake recalled.

The SSG said the same office recently wrote to the state, requesting that Anambra should 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. Since then, the State Committee has been working on preparations for the Fair, which is scheduled to take place from 2nd to 5th December 2026,” she said.

Ms Nnake denied any involvement in establishing the fake agency.

“Beyond these official interactions and engagements, I have 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 said.

The fourth discovery

This is the fourth “fake” agency to be uncovered by the ICPC in less than six weeks.

In July, the commission uncovered a fake agency known as the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), prompting President Tinubu’s directive to the ICPC to probe the PFIPC and submit its report within 30 days.

Earlier this month, the ICPC submitted an interim report to Mr Tinubu on its investigation into the alleged fictitious agency.

The commission announced in the report that it had uncovered two additional fake agencies established by the self-proclaimed Director-General of the organisation, Adeniyi Adeyemi.

The two additional agencies were the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency.