Nigeria charges man with running fictitious government agency

A Nigerian man accused of illegally creating a government agency, installing himself as its ‌boss, and securing federal budget allocations for it was charged in court on Wednesday with forgery and impersonation, in a case that has exposed gaps in the checks governing the country's public institutions.

The purported agency nevertheless obtained office space ⁠inside the federal secretariat, secured a roughly $1 million budget allocation this year, and tried to open accounts ​at the Central Bank of Nigeria, according to court filings.

Prosecutors have not accused any government officials of conspiring with Adeyemi, who was arrested ​in southwestern Osun state when ​a judge issued a ⁠warrant for him after he failed to appear in court five times.