Tinubu lifts suspension of finance permanent secretary Danjuma
- President Tinubu has reinstated Mohammed Danjuma, permanent secretary for Finance (Special Duties).
- Danjuma was suspended in August 2026 during an ICPC probe into an alleged unauthorised agency.
- The Head of the Civil Service conveyed the approval in a letter dated 22 October.
President Bola Tinubu has cleared Mohammed Danjuma to return to work as Permanent Secretary, Finance (Special Duties), at the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Olumuyiwa Enitan Abel, passed on the President's approval in a letter dated 22 October 2026. The letter, with reference number HCSF/3023/Vol.III/124, was made public by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The reinstatement takes effect from 21 October 2026.
Danjuma was suspended on 21 August 2026, together with two other permanent secretaries, Nadungu Gagare and Richard P. Pheelangwah. The suspensions followed a report by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the agency that investigates corruption in public office.
What the probe was about
The ICPC report concerned an entity calling itself the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office. According to the commission's public briefing on 21 August, the body had been given office space inside the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation without the President's approval.
The commission said the office was allegedly promoted by George Buchi Nwabueze, and that some public servants were suspected of being involved. Tinubu ordered the three permanent secretaries suspended and directed that Nwabueze be arrested.
The case formed part of a wider ICPC look into bodies presenting themselves as government agencies, including one that called itself the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council.
The letter conveying the reinstatement said the President acted after due diligence. Danjuma has been told to resume at once and to follow the Public Service Rules, other regulations and the ethical standards of the federal civil service.
No court has convicted Danjuma or the other officials of any offence. The sources do not say whether the investigation into the alleged agency, or into Nwabueze, has been concluded.
Why it matters
Permanent secretaries run the day-to-day administration of ministries and control spending decisions that reach ordinary Nigerians, from contracts to salaries. A suspension or reinstatement at that level can slow or restart work at the ministry.
The sources do not say what happens to the two other permanent secretaries suspended on the same day, or whether the ICPC probe continues.
