Some Civil Society Organisations, as well as a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to state his role in the controversy surrounding the reinstatement of the Chairman of the defunct Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina.
They added that the revelations that followed the controversial reinstatement had dented the image of Buhari and called for a panel to investigate all issues surrounding Maina.
The former PTFPR boss had said Buhari asked the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) to strike a deal with him (Maina).
Agbakoba, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the telephone urged the President to break his silence on the issue.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said Maina had dented the President’s image by his claims, wondering why a “common” suspect like the fugitive “cannot be arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission unless somebody somewhere at the highest level of government is protecting him.”
He said, “Only the President can break this conundrum; otherwise, my personal belief is that right inside Aso Rock, there is some protection. If not, how can a man go in and out of Nigeria with the ease? How can Maina make allusion to the President asking him to meet with the AGF?
“In fact, what has happened is that the President’s image has been dented. Maina has dented the President’s image by alluding to the fact that the President had contact with him and instructed the AGF to make a deal with him.
“What I expect is for the President to immediately clear the air on what is going on.”
He said the claims by Maina had impugned the integrity of President Buhari’s anti-corruption war, adding that the President would be doing himself a favour by speaking on the issue.
He said, “The whole thing is a mess and it is difficult to know who to believe. It has, in my view, created the biggest dent in the President’s anti-corruption crusade because we have all the agencies quarrelling. We have the Attorney-General of the Federation quarrelling with the Head of Service, and so on.
“It sounds so ridiculously unbelievable and I think the President will be doing himself a big favour to break his silence, particularly as Maina said the President approved the meeting.”
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project noted that Maina had more confessions to make.
They called on the President to inaugurate a panel of retired judges to investigate the allegations made by Maina.
The SERAP Director, Adetokunbo Mumumi said based on the allegations by Maina, Buhari should set up an investigative committee that is not controlled by the presidency.
He said, “What Maina has said so far are allegations and counter-allegations. What should happen now is that an independent committee of enquiry consisting of retired judges must investigate the Maina scandal. The President must set up a committee of retired incorruptible judges.
“We don’t want anyone from the presidency or under the control of the President. It is not a question of investigation made up of people in the Presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives.”
Also, the CACOL Director, Debo Adeniran said, “Maina’s confession is not yet a revelation until it is proven. It could be his creative way of exoneration. The way forward is to let us have Maina speak up more. He threatened that he was going to name some names. If he does not give those names, he should be treated as an accomplice who is withholding information from the authorities.
“He claimed that he recovered so much money between the last administration and the present one. He should make public the details of the recovery so that we can see his credibility. The anti-graft agencies must probe Maina further to get the information at his disposal.”
Also, a civil society group, Advocates for Peoples Rights and Justice, said Malami’s secret visit to the former boss of the task force on pension reforms in Dubai indicated that he and other officials were complicit.
The Coordinator of the group, Victor Giwa noted that Buhari might have been misinformed by his officials about the matter, adding that that probably explained why he ordered Maina’s sacking after he heard that the former pension reforms boss had been reinstated.
The activist demanded that Malami and the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Monguno, should clear the air on their reason for the Dubai visit.
“People like the NSA and Malami who visited Maina should clear the air on the position of the President. Also, they might have misrepresented the President and until Buhari speaks, we may never know the truth,” Giwa said.
The National Coordinator, Advocates for Good Governance, Macdonald Akhirome said Nigerians would continue to hold the government accountable for its action on the issue.
He admonished Buhari to tell Nigerians the truth about Maina’s reinstatement, noting that his silence on the matter “speaks volumes about certain things that may not be understood at the moment.”
Akhirome said, “Our take is that the fact speaks for itself, it is glaring before the people, but one would expect that the government would take responsibility for its inaction and action.”
Maina, who is wanted by the EFCC, in a video sent to Channels Television, claimed that the President gave Malami the nod to “go and sit down with Maina.”
The former pension reforms boss had claimed that he had not been taken to any court of law, noting that he had sued security agencies and had “four court judgments.”
Also, the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, had said, in a leaked memo dated October 23, that Buhari was aware of the reinstatement of Maina, noting that she warned the President against it.
In the memo, Oyo-Ita had said her warning was based on the implications that such reinstatement would have on the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government.
When contacted, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said all enquiries relating to Maina should be directed to the Attorney-General of the Federation.
“Everything on Maina should be directed to the AGF,” Adesina said when one of our correspondents approached him for comment on the allegations made by the defunct PTFPR boss.
But the AGF neither answered our correspondent’s calls nor responded to a text message sent to his mobile phone.
The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, again yesterday said the former head of Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform, Abdulrasheed Maina, was reinstated into the civil service without a directive from her office.
Mrs Oyo-Ita spoke at the continuation of a hearing by the ad-hoc committee set up by the House of Representatives to probe the matter.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; Acting EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris; Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Services, Mohammed Babangede; and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Abubakar Magaji, were some of those quizzed at the resumption of the hearing chaired by Aliyu Madaki.
“For the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Abubakar Magaji to claim that the directive to reinstate Maina came from my office is limited in facts,” Mrs. Oyo-Ita said, reacting to the submission by Mr. Magaji.
“The remarks by Mr. Magaji that he acted based on directives of the Head of Service, to put it mildly, is not quite correct,” she said.
“There is a process of conveyance of reinstatement instructions. The Federal Civil Service Commission would send a letter to the Head of Service and also send another letter to the beneficiary of that reinstatement under the flying seal of the Head of Service.
“The Ministry of Interior did not wait to get a posting instruction before they went ahead and reinstated Maina and assigned him duties.
“So this is to completely discountenance the attempt by the Permanent Secretary that they acted on an issue in an illegal manner while trying to make claims that there was a legality from my office”, she added.
She noted that the Ministry of Interior only acted on an advanced copy of the reinstatement letter, which was only meant for information purposes only.
Mrs. Oyo-Ita further insisted that Mr. Maina, as far as she was concerned, has not been reinstated into the civil service. “A letter of reinstatement was never given to him from my office.”
The Head of Service outlined the processes involved in reinstating any civil servant.
She said the Federal Civil Service Commission has constitutional mandate of overseeing all matters of appointment, promotion, reinstatement issues and disciplinary matters; while the Office of Head of Service has mandate to oversee career management issues, structure, training and welfare management in the service.
Responding, Mr. Magaji said the letter issued to Maina from the Office of the Federal Civil Service Commission constitutionally directed the reinstatement.
“That copy was sent to me for action. Any letter for information to my own understanding is to take necessary action. They have reinstated him whether Maina was given the letter or not, he was reinstated,” Mr. Magaji said.
He, however, said his ministry never gave Mr. Maina any office or sent him on any official duty.
Mr. Maina who made his first public appearance since the saga in an interview with Channels Television last Monday where he claimed innocence of all allegations levelled against him ,was absent during the hearing. He was represented by his counsel, Mohammed Sani-Kado.
The recall of Mr. Maina, who is still wanted for alleged N2 billion fraud by the anti-graft agency, EFCC, has since been condemned by Nigerians and civil society groups, prompting the public hearing.