Fugitive former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, has requested to appear before a House of Representatives investigative panel
The House is probing the circumstances of his controversial promotion and reinstatement into the federal civil service.
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Maina is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged billion naira fraud.
Following media reports about his secret reinstatement, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered his immediate sack.
He also directed the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), to submit a report on how Maina was recalled into the service.
The report was submitted but its content was soon after leaked to the media causing more scandal for the government because it revealed the involvement of senior government officials in the whole affair.
Sources within and outside the panel told our reporter yesterday that Maina, who was reported to have fled the country after the scandal of his secret reinstatement and promotion to a position of director, is indeed somewhere in the country.
It was gathered that Maina submitted some documents to the House panel, chaired by Aliyu Sani Madaki, (APC Kano State).
The documents, Daily Trust further learnt, were submitted by one Barrister Muhammad Sani Katu, a lawyer with the Justice Maman Nasir Chambers.
Maina is expected to appear before the panel next week barring change of schedule, the sources said.
However, the sources said, powerful forces were making frantic efforts to prevent him from appearing before the panel as he is likely to open “can of worms” against them.
“Yes, he has expressed his readiness to appear before the panel to testify. But the problem is that some forces don’t want him to appear, because they feel threatened; they feel he’s likely to open can of worms.
“That’s the true picture of the situation, but the committee has gone far in its activities. What we can’t say certainly is if the forces will allow the man (Maina) to appear before the committee,” a source familiar with the matter said.
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The House last month resolved to probe the circumstances that led to Maina’s recall which it described as embarrassing and unacceptable.
Madaki could not be reached to confirm Maina’s readiness to testify before his committee as his mobile phones were shut down at the time of filing this report.
Maina, who chaired the pension task force during last administration, was alleged to have mismanaged billions of naira meant pensioners across the country.
The 7th Senate had probed the matter and indicted him for the offence.
Following the indictment, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared him wanted. But he allegedly embarked on a self-exile.
He reportedly returned to the country surreptitiously earlier this and got recalled into the civil service and promoted to the position of a director, even though he left the civil service as an assistant director in 2013.
Culled: Daily Trust
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