Nigeria’s latest fake government agencies scandal has moved beyond an embarrassing case of impersonation. These absurd scenarios have exposed something far more disturbing, bringing to the fore the weaknesses in the country’s machinery of government.
The recurrence is alarming, as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has now uncovered a second allegedly fictitious government agency. This time, it is said to be operating from within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. President Bola Tinubu has ordered the arrest of the alleged promoter and the suspension of three federal permanent secretaries pending investigation.
The new organisation, called the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, was allegedly allocated office space within the OSGF without presidential authorisation. ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu said the discovery emerged from the broader investigation into the earlier Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council scandal and alleged weaknesses in public-service procedures.
This should worry every Nigerian. Not simply because a man allegedly created a fake government institution. But because two allegedly fake government institutions were able to acquire the appearance of legitimacy from within the government system itself.
