By Emameh Gabriel
Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has raised alarm over the proliferation of expired federal government committees and task forces that have transformed into permanent agencies operating illegally from office spaces in Abuja.
This is even as he disclosed that successive administrations have allowed temporary structures to outlive their mandates and morph into corrupt bureaucratic enterprises.
Sani’s warning comes just days after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) uncovered yet another fake agency operating from within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), a discovery that has exposed deep-seated institutional weaknesses in the federal bureaucracy.
The ICPC, in its latest findings, uncovered the “National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office,” which had been illegally allocated office space within the OSGF complex without presidential authorisation.
The agency was allegedly promoted by one George Buchi Nwabueze, who operated under multiple variations of his name, with suspected active collaboration from senior public servants within the OSGF.
President Bola Tinubu has since ordered the immediate arrest of Nwabueze and the suspension of three Permanent Secretaries—M.S. Danjuma, Engr. Nadungu Gagare, and Richard Pheelangwah—over their alleged complicity in the matter.
The latest discovery followed the ICPC’s ongoing investigation into the fictitious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), a fake agency that had successfully secured budget allocation and operated as a legitimate government entity despite having no legal backing from the National Assembly or any executive order from the president.
Speaking on the development on Sunday, Sani warned that such fake agencies were often not entirely “fake” in the sense of being created from nothing, but rather started as genuine government projects that were fraudulently extended, expanded, and grafted into government statutory bodies for dubious purposes.
“Most times, the Federal Government sets up ad hoc committees or special task forces for specific issues for a limited period of time. They are also given office spaces to operate. When they complete their missions within that time frame and submit their reports, they are usually dissolved and their office spaces shut down,” Sani explained.
“If there is no follow-up to ensure they properly shut down, such temporary appointees will continue to operate illegally, through the next government. A corrupt bureaucratic system will also sustain them.”
The former lawmaker noted that there are such committees and task forces established by the Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, Yar’Adua, and Buhari administrations that urgently need to be scanned within Abuja.
Citing an example, Sani recalled that a Persons Living with Disabilities Data Centre was set up by the Jonathan administration as a temporary facility but managed to secure an office space that made it permanent. It lasted through the Buhari administration until the centre finally closed when it could no longer pay its rent and could not secure funding from the budget.
“Recently, I learned that the office complex of the Federal Committee on the Sale of FG Properties has been closed. That was one committee that was supposed to last for a few months but lasted for over a decade,” Sani added.
The closure of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Sale of Federal Government Houses was ordered by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, following reports that the defunct body continued its operations and administrative functions despite having been formally dissolved by the government. Security personnel were deployed to seal off the premises, effectively halting all ongoing transactions at the facility.
The latest ICPC discovery has intensified scrutiny of the processes governing the creation, recognition, and operation of government agencies, as the Federal Government moves to identify and shut down fictitious entities operating within or around the public service.
ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, disclosed that the commission has now expanded its investigation into procedural weaknesses in the public service that have allowed unauthorised entities to gain access to government premises and operate with impunity.
President Tinubu has also directed a wider policy audit of federal ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) as well as internal government processes, described by the ICPC chairman as a proactive measure to strengthen governance and prevent a recurrence of such fraudulent operations.
The former senator called on the Federal Government to conduct a comprehensive audit of all committees, task forces, and ad hoc bodies established since 1999 to determine which have outlived their mandates and must be officially dissolved, and which have been fraudulently converted into permanent agencies.
“Fake agencies are sometimes genuine FG projects that were fraudulently extended, expanded, and grafted into government statutory bodies for dubious reasons,” Sani concluded. “We must clean up this system.”
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