Since the news broke on Friday, October 20, that the fugitive former chairman of the Presidential Task Team on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, has been secretly reinstated into the civil service, the anti-corruption stance of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has been brought into ridicule.
Maina, who is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was secretly recalled and promoted to the position of director in charge of Human Resources in the Ministry of Interior.
He was dismissed in 2013 by the Federal Civil Service Commission following a recommendation by the Office of the Head of Service.
The embattled ex-pension boss who fled the country in 2015 after being indicted for allegedly perpetrating fraud to the tune of N2bn, returned to the country and was posted to the Ministry of Interior based on the recommendation of the Head of Service and was given double promotion.
Below is the genesis of his EFCC travails;
Trouble started in 2012 when Mr. Maina was accused of leading a massive pension fraud scheme amounting to more than N100 billion. Mr. Maina, was drafted by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2010 to sanitize a corrupt pension system.
Based on the allegation of corruption, Mr. Maina was invited by the Senate Joint Committee on Public Service and Establishment and State and Local Government Administration.
The Senate after completion of its investigation issued a Warrant of Arrest against Mr. Maina.
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Ignoring the panel, Mr. Maina went ahead to sue the Senate and the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, and thereafter went into hiding after being declared wanted by the police.
Consequent upon this, Mr. Maina was dismissed by the Head of Service for allegedly absconding from duty and attempting to evade arrest and charged to court.
He was on July 21, 2015 charged by the EFCC alongside Stephen Oronsaye and two others before a Federal High Court on a 24-count charge bordering on procurement fraud and obtaining by false pretence.
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While Mr. Oronsaye and the two other accused were in court and pleaded not guilty to the charge, Mr. Maina was at large.
Mr. Maina is said to have spent these past years in the United Arab Emirates, from where he kept lobbying to win pleasure of the Buhari administration.
Since absconding, nothing was heard of Maina until shortly after the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 when members of his defunct Presidential Task Team on Pension Reforms offered to work with the then incoming administration.
The team, which addressed a press conference in Abuja, said its work would be easier under Buhari, known for his anti-corruption stand.
A member of the team, Ngozika Ihuoma, said one of the achievements of President Jonathan was the creation of the pension task reform body in June 2010 under the leadership of Mr. Maina.
Mr. Maina’s reinstatement was shrouded in secrecy and was handled “at the highest level” according to an informed source.
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The reinstatement was not announced by the presidency or any federal government agency.
Earlier this year, Mr. Maina’s campaign posters surfaced on the social media, touting him as gubernatorial aspirant for Borno state, without indicating political party platform.
The post All YouShould Know About Abdulrasheed Maina, The Embattled Pension Chairman Who Was Recalled By Buhari appeared first on LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS BREAKING HEADLINES NEWSPAPERS.
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