CDHR Demands Full Investigation and Accountability Over Discovery of Fake Government Agencies
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) welcomes the reported discovery of fake and counterfeit government agencies and commends the Federal Government for allowing these disturbing revelations to come to public attention rather than concealing them.
However, CDHR insists that discovery must not be the end of the matter. The existence of purported government agencies operating outside the legitimate structure of government raises fundamental questions about accountability, supervision, public expenditure and the integrity of Nigeria's public service.
CDHR therefore calls on the Federal Government to immediately commence a comprehensive, transparent and independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the creation, registration, operation and funding of all identified fake agencies.
Those responsible for establishing, promoting, financing or facilitating such agencies, including any collaborators within government, must be identified and, where culpability is established through due process, prosecuted in accordance with the law. Government must also investigate whether public funds, salaries, contracts, grants, properties or other resources were fraudulently obtained or diverted through these entities.
National Assembly Must Strengthen Oversight
CDHR calls on the National Assembly to urgently examine how such entities were able to emerge and operate without effective detection.
Parliamentary oversight of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) must be proactive, continuous and effective rather than reactive. Relevant committees of the National Assembly should summon responsible officials, examine records and establish the institutional failures that allowed fake agencies to exist.
The present revelations should also trigger a broader review of the procedures for establishing, recognising, funding and supervising government agencies.
Anti-Corruption Agencies Must Follow the Evidence
CDHR further calls on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other relevant law-enforcement institutions to leave no stone unturned in investigating the matter.
The investigation must go beyond the agencies already exposed. It should seek to determine whether other fake, duplicated, counterfeit or improperly constituted government agencies are operating within or around the public service.
Where criminal conduct is established, the promoters, beneficiaries, facilitators and collaborators must be brought before the courts. The law must apply equally to private individuals and public officials.
Senior Government Officials Must Account
CDHR also demands clear explanations from the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Auditor-General for the Federation, within the limits of their respective mandates.
They should account for what was known about the existence and operations of the affected entities, when such information became available, what oversight mechanisms were in place and what actions were taken.
Where investigations establish negligence, dereliction of duty, abuse of office, complicity or other wrongdoing, the responsible officials should face appropriate administrative and legal consequences. No public office should serve as a shield against accountability.
At the same time, CDHR stresses that allegations must be properly investigated and that no individual should be declared guilty before the conclusion of due process and judicial determination where prosecution is involved.
This Must Lead to Systemic Reform
CDHR believes that the discovery presents an opportunity for the Federal Government to undertake a much-needed institutional cleansing of the public service.
The government should conduct a comprehensive audit of MDAs and government-funded entities, including their legal status, mandates, funding arrangements, staffing structures and physical operations. Any entity found to be fraudulent or illegally constituted should be immediately shut down, while legitimate agencies with overlapping or duplicated mandates should be properly reviewed.
The Federal Government must also strengthen mechanisms for authenticating government institutions and prevent individuals from exploiting the name and authority of government to defraud citizens or access public resources.
Nigeria cannot afford a public service in which fictitious institutions can emerge, operate and potentially consume public resources without detection.
CDHR therefore calls for:
A comprehensive investigation into all discovered fake and counterfeit agencies.
Identification and prosecution, in accordance with the law, of those responsible and their collaborators where culpability is established.
A wider audit of MDAs and government-funded entities to uncover other fraudulent or improperly constituted agencies.
Stronger National Assembly oversight of MDAs and government institutions.
Full accountability from relevant senior government officials regarding what they knew and what action they took.
Recovery of public funds and assets found to have been obtained or diverted through fraudulent entities.
Administrative sanctions and prosecution where warranted against officials whose negligence, complicity or abuse of office is established.
Institutional reforms to ensure that fake agencies cannot be established and sustained undetected in the future.
CDHR reiterates that the objective must not be a witch-hunt or political persecution. The objective must be truth, accountability, justice and institutional reform.
The Nigerian people deserve a government whose institutions are genuine, accountable and subject to effective oversight. The present revelations should therefore mark the beginning of a thorough clean-up of the public service—not another scandal that fades from public attention without consequences.
CDHR calls on the Federal Government to act decisively. Nigerians are watching, and the public deserves to know who created these agencies, who enabled them, who benefited from them, how long they operated, what resources they consumed and what measures are being taken to ensure that such fraud never happens again.
Signed:
Comrade Debo Adeniran
President CDHR and Secretary Board of Trustee
Comrade Deacon Jeremiah Onyibe
National Publicity Secretary CDHR
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