Fake agencies expose weak checks on Nigeria’s MDA oversight

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the suspension of three permanent secretaries following the discovery of an alleged fake agency, the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, reportedly operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The suspended officials are M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah. 

The development came a month after an alleged fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) was uncovered. It reportedly operated for more than two years, representing the federal government at meetings, conferences, and diplomatic engagements, while receiving N1.3 billion in the 2026 budget. 

These cases expose gaps in the checks that should ensure a federal MDA is legally established before it can operate in the name of government, access public resources and receive budgetary allocations.

Nigeria’s constitutional and administrative framework provides several points at which such an organisation should be identifiable and subject to scrutiny. The Constitution gives the President executive powers, but expressly makes those powers subject to the Constitution and laws made by the National Assembly. It also directly establishes 14 federal executive bodies under Section 153, while other statutory commissions, authorities and agencies derive their existence and powers from Acts of the National Assembly. 

This framework makes the legal basis of an agency important from the outset. Before an organisation can legitimately operate as part of the federal government, there should be a clear record of what created it, what powers it has and who is responsible for overseeing it.