SGF Mum As Fake Agency Boss Fires Back

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.”

[Vanguard]