The failure of the President Buhari led APC administration to take responsibility and hold its officials accountable took a new high on Wednesday,as the government pointedly accused former President Jonathan for the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina,former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, who masterminded the fleecing of pension funds in 2010.
Huhuonline.com checks reveal that government took this position to prevent it from answering questions about the monies embattled Abdulrasheed Maina donated to the Buhari Presidential campaign and avoid bringing to book AGF Malami and Dambazu, the two principal actors behind Miana`s reinstatement.
Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement on Wednesday blamed former President Goodluck Jonathan’s loyalists for the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina
Shehu said: “Some influential officials loyal to the previous government may have been the invisible hand in the latest scandal that saw the return of Maina to the public service, despite being on the EFCC’s wanted list.”
Shehu said Maina is one of “the monsters created by the former PDP government, and which are still rearing their ugly heads long after the Party was soundly defeated in the 2015 elections.
“Over and over again, the President Buhari government has pointed out that the administration’s greatest problem is the mess left behind by the previous government. Maina is just one more example,” he said.
Referring to document records from the investigations that led to the disgrace of the former pension boss and his being declared wanted by the EFCC, Shehu said Maina was not the only a top member of the former government involved in the multi billion naira pensions scandal, “but a man warmly ensconced in the bosom of power.”
“Top officials in the PDP government, from sectoral heads, to those charged with responsibility for law and order received some of these billions of naira from Maina.
“We have all the transaction records and these are matters that the EFCC has been pursuing to ensure that they all have their day in court,” Shehu stated.
He assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to get to “the bottom of the matter of the impunity that led to Maina’s reinstatement.”
Maina’s family: “Buhari invited Maina to come and help his administration”
However, the family of Abdulraaheed Maina has vowed to expose the cabal at the presidency who are responsible for his return to Nigeria and subsequent reinstatement to the civil service.
Spokesman for the family,Malam Aliyu Maina,flanked by Salihu Maina and Ladan Abdullahi, said the family is concerned that its reputation has dipped as a result to the sealing of eight properties allegedly owned by Abdulraaheed Maina by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and promised to take legal action on it.
They pointed out that Abdulrasheed departed Nigeria following threats to his life, only for President Muhammadu Buhari to invite him to come and help his administration.
“You must have noticed the recent attempt by some cabal to ridicule and tarnish the image of the Maina family in the media. Where our brother, Abdulrasheed Maina has been blackmailed as a fraudster.
“The cabals have gone to the extent of marking our house in red paints with an inscription of E.F.C.C under investigation. The EFCC is wrong in their action because Abdulrasheed inherited so many properties from his late father in Kaduna and Abuja, some of them were built before he was born so how could he have acquired them fraudulently.
“The entire family of Abdullahi Maina is categorically stating that our son is not in any way a fraudster, rather he is a messiah who brought reforms into Nigerian Pension Scheme, whose effort saw the disappearance of pensioners roaming the streets of Abuja and other state capital in Nigeria.
“It is on record that Abdulrasheed Maina’s reform put to a stop the fraudulent withdrawals of huge sums from both the Nigerian Pension Board, the Nigerian Police Pension Board etc. Perhaps it is this noble efforts that made him enviable to the present administration when they came into power to convince him to comeback and assist in its “Change” agenda.”
The family noted that the recent actions may have been targeted at not Maina but high above, “we are aware that all this act of calumny is not targeted against Abdulrasheed Maina alone but against the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria and the office of the Attorney General. We have contacted our lawyers Messr Mamma Nasir & Co and instructed them to act appropriately.
“We equally know that Abdulrasheed Maina is in possession of many facts that is against the cabal and interesting to the Nigerian populace, which he will disclose very soon,” the family noted.
Aliyu said it was preposterous that government officials were denying his brother, especially when the Department of State Services (DSS) provided security for him.
“It is on record that Abdulrasheed Maina’s reform put to a stop the fraudulent withdrawal of huge sums from both the Nigerian Pension Board, the Nigerian Police Pension Board, etc. Perhaps it is his noble efforts that made him enviable to the present administration when they came into power to convince him to come back and assist in its ‘CHANGE’ agenda,” he said.
The Family members said that President Muhammadu Buhari-led administartion begged the former pension boss to join the change agenda, with the assurance of security protection.
“Abdulrasheed was in fact invited by this administration and he was promised security to come and clean up the mess and generate more revenue to government by blocking leakages.
“He succumbed to the present administration and came back to Nigeria. He has been working with the DSS for quite some time and he was given necessary security.
As you know Abdulrasheed Maina had been a target in the past, so experience is the best teacher. But when his security is guaranteed, he will surface from wherever he is and tell Nigerians the truth,” noted the spokesman of the family, Aliyu Maina.
Responding, Shehu Garba, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, described the Maina`s family claim as a freshly minted falsehood, adding that nobody should believe the claim.
“The family that made that claim simply wanted to be ridiculous. Please ignore them.” He said.
