Fresh details have emerged over the controversy surrounding the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office operating under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) with officials alleging that an internal dispute may have triggered the investigation that led the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to label the outfit a fake government agency.

Multiple officials within the OSGF told newsmen that the project office’s promoter, George Nwabueze, had a disagreement with some directors in the SGF’s office, after which the officials allegedly petitioned the ICPC over the organisation.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment on the matter, insisted that the outfit was not a federal agency but a project office that could be wound down at any time.

One of the officials said the ICPC was allegedly misled by some directors who presented the project office as an unauthorised agency.

“It is not a fake agency. It is a project office. The ICPC was misled into believing it is a fake agency by some directors.

“There was a disagreement between him (Nwabueze) and some directors over some issues, which prompted the directors to petition the ICPC, alleging that someone was running a fake office.

“Instead of the ICPC doing due diligence, they saw it as an opportunity to declare that they had discovered another fake agency. That is far from it. It is a project office, not an agency. It can wind down anytime,” the official said.

Another official questioned how the project office could have allegedly operated within the OSGF since 2010 if it was an unauthorised government agency.

“How does a project office become an agency, and why has it been operating since 2010 in that office? ICPC didn’t discover anything; they were misinformed by some people at the SGF office who have scores to settle with the promoter of that office,” the official said.

Nwabueze has also rejected the characterisation of the organisation as an unauthorised government agency, maintaining that it is an approved public-private special initiative operating under the OSGF.

In a statement issued on his behalf on Friday by the Directorate of Legal Affairs and Strategic Communications, Nwabueze alleged that some serving and retired officials of the OSGF had engaged in administrative sabotage and suppressed official files relating to the project.

He claimed that he petitioned the SGF on May 15, 2026, over the alleged withholding of strategic project documents, including files connected to Nigeria’s advance delegation to the Asia-Africa Summit 2026 and sub-national energy programmes.

Nwabueze further disclosed that he instituted Suit No. CV/2634/26 before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, over alleged attempts to evict the project from the OSGF and suppress relevant files.

He said the legal action was intended to prevent the project from being removed from the SGF’s office without following due administrative procedures.

“The entire subject matter remains subjudice before a court of competent jurisdiction,” he said.

The promoter maintained that the project was anchored on Executive Orders 003 and 005 of 2017 and 2018 respectively.

He also referred to supervisory correspondence from the Political and Economic Affairs Office of the OSGF, referenced PS-PEAO/2025/008/4, which he said demonstrated official recognition of the project.

According to him, the correspondence approved a five-member technical committee to oversee the project’s development objectives, monitoring framework and public-private implementation structures.

The fresh claims come days after the ICPC announced what it described as the discovery of another fake federal agency operating within the OSGF.

ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, made the disclosure on August 21 after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Aliyu said the President had directed the arrest of Nwabueze and the immediate suspension of three permanent secretaries in the OSGF in connection with the alleged fake agency.

The affected permanent secretaries were identified as MS Danjuma, Nandungu Gagare and Richard Pheelangwa.

The ICPC chairman said the discovery was made in the course of the commission’s investigation into the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council reportedly promoted by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew.