The House of Representatives on
Thursday gave the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation,
Mr. Abubakar Malami, seven days to produce a report of his investigation into
how letters initiating the recall of the former Chairman, Presidential Task
Force on Pension Reforms, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, emanated from his office.
An ad hoc committee of the House
is probing the circumstances surrounding the reinstatement of Maina after he
had been dismissed from service in 2013 and later declared wanted by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged pension fraud.
The committee, which is chaired
by a member of the All Progressives Congress from Kano State, Mr. Aliyu Madaki,
also summoned the Special Adviser to the AGF, Mr. Kehinde Ogini, to appear
before it.
It was gathered that the
committee was working on a report which indicated that the Federal Civil
Service Commission, the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the
Ministry of Interior, acted on directives from Malami’s office to conclude the
recall of Maina into the service on September 28, 2017.
But, having denied that he
personally authored any of the letters on Maina’s recall, the committee asked
what actions he took to find out how letters bearing his seal left his office
without his knowledge.
In his response, the AGF said he
had directed the Permanent Secretary in his ministry to set up a committee to
investigate the matter.
He said, “The letter dated
October 5 was never signed by me. Maina’s case, up to that point, was still
work in progress and I wrote KIV on it.
“Again, the letter of February 21
could not have emanated from my office because it did not follow procedure. The
matter is under investigation.”
In its reaction to the AGF’s
statement, the committee noted that Malami’s internal investigation into the
letters and the report of the probe would resolve many issues.
Madaki, who spoke on behalf of
the committee, said, “Your report should get to us within one week. Whatever
you are doing, complete it within one week and report back to us.”
Malami had claimed that his
special adviser and line officers in the ministry had kept writing for his
approval to reinstate Maina.
He added that he never gave a
final approval at any point.
In addition to its request for
the report of the investigation, the committee summoned Ogini and all the
administrative officers in the AGF’s office to explain their roles in Maina’s
illegal recall.
Meanwhile, the
Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr. Mohammed
Babandede, told the committee that Maina had three passports.
He said the passports were an
official passport, a standard Nigerian passport and an American passport.
He also revealed that Maina was
both a Nigerian and an American citizen.
Babandede told the panel that on
September 2, 2013, Maina was prevented from travelling through the Murtala
Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, because he was on the wanted list of the
EFCC.
He added that the EFCC later
wrote the service on December 1, 2015, removing Maina’s name from the list.
“We now have him on our watch
list after Mr. President (Muhammadu Buhari) directed recently that he should be
dismissed from service.
“But since 2013, our system has
not shown that Maina travelled through any of our airports.”
He, however, admitted that it was
possible that Maina used unmanned border posts, which was “illegal and an
offence.”
The CG’s revelation made the
committee to seek explanation from the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim
Magu.
Maina bought $2m house in cash –EFCC
Magu denied that he knew anything
about the letter removing Maina from its wanted list.
He said the letter, dated
December 1, 2015, was before his assumption of office as the EFCC acting boss.
“This is the first time in my
life that I have seen this letter. But it will be investigated,” Magu said.
Magu also denied the allegation
that pension assets recovered by Maina and handed over to the EFCC were stolen
by the anti-graft agency.
He said no asset was collected
from the task force, adding that assets recovered from pension fraud suspects
were products of independent investigations by the EFCC.
Magu explained that the assets
were recovered from suspects involved in the police pension fraud and persons
linked to the fraud in the office of the HoS.
He added, “Maina did not hand
over a single asset to the commission.
“Let him give details of the
assets, the dates and officials who received them.”
Magu said some funds and property
were traced to Maina, which was why he was declared wanted.
He said N2.7bn was found in
Maina’s bank account, while his son made a turnover of N1.5bn in one
year.
He added, “Maina ran his illegal
deals in hard currencies, paying $2m in cash one day to buy a house in Abuja.
Maina remains a wanted person.”
The Director-General of the
Department of State Service, Mr. Lawal Daura, said it was true that the AGF met
with Maina in Dubai in 2016, adding that he met with Maina in company with the
National Security Adviser, Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.).
On the reinstatement of Maina,
Daura said, “The service played no role in his reinstatement.”
‘Maina was last paid February
2013’
The Minister of Finance, Mrs.
Kemi Adeosun, and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris,
have debunked the claim by Maina’s lawyer that he was paid salary up till last
month.
Maina’s lawyer, Mr. Mohammed
Katu, had told the committee last week that his client was still in service and
was regularly paid his salary.
But, Adeosun and Idris, while
testifying before the committee, denied the claim.
Idris explained that the civil
service operated an automated payment system which would have shown such.
He said, “From our records, Maina
received his last salary in February 2013. In March 2013, he was removed from
the payroll.
“I don’t know from where he
received the salary. There is nobody with the name Abdulrasheed Maina in our
system.”
The finance minister confirmed
the Idris’ statement.
When the committee asked the
lawyer to produce evidence of the salary his client collected, he could not
tender any document.
Katu, however, pointed out that
since Maina went to court and got judgments in his favour, he had been returned
to the service from the date he was “purported” to have been dismissed in 2013.
Interior ministry’s PS takes responsibility
The Head of Service, Mrs.
Winifred Oyo-Ita, and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Mr.
Abubakar Magaji, traded words after Magaji insisted that he acted on a letter
from Oyo-Ita in recalling Maina.
But, the HoS was able to
establish that Magaji acted on a letter from the Federal Civil Service Commission
without getting a formal directive from her office.
The permanent secretary later
said his office acted on the FCSC letter because it believed that it was the
body constitutionally empowered to employ and promote civil servants.
“I take responsibility for the
administrative error by the Ministry of Interior in the whole matter,” he said.
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Buhari not corrupt....lol But all his followers are corruption themselves,what a shame on PMB lead APC administration. Where is that Zali..make comment here muron
ReplyDeleteMaina speaks on how he got reinstated, insists Buhari approved his meeting with AGF (VIDEO)
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