The Man Maina And Those Liable For His Return To Service

Nigerians may recall that one of the biggest
criticism that trailed the government of
President Goodluck Jonathan administration was
his lukewarmness to take action in his then
Chairman of Presidential Task Force on Pension
Reforms, Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina despite
several recommendations by the 7th Senate.
Though he would later fire Maina when it got
too hot, many, including the opposition felt a lot
of damage had already been done. It is however
shocking and evil to see the reappearance of
Maina under the Muhammadu Buhari
government.
The Man Maina And What He Stood For
Maina, an Assistant Director in charge of
Customs,Immigration and Prisons Pension in the
Federal ministry of Interior within the human
resources department, was appointed the
Chairman on Presidential Task Force on Pension
Reforms by Goodluck Jonathan's administration.
The key mandate of the task force was to
sanitise public pension sector that has been
enmeshed in acute corruption, his position was
like a sort of cop.
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To his credit, Maina's Team blew the whistle
that led to the investigation, prosecution and
"conviction" of Mr. John Yakubu Yusufu, then
serving Assistant Director who stole over N2
billion belonging to Police pensioners. He
pleaded guilty and was tried alongside
accomplices that include; then Permanent
Secretary, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, the Director,
Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Cashier Veronica
Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira the ICT Officer.
N/B: Despite pleading guilty to the stealing of N2
billion belonging to retired policemen, Mr Yusufu
was told by the trial judge, Justice Abubakar
Talba of Abuja High Court to forfeit properties
that weren't worth 200 million naira and pay
N250,000 fine to avoid going to jail. He paid
right there in court.
Maina was however accused of "re-stealing" N2
billion belonging to pensioners by pensioners
through petitions to both the Senate and House
of Representative. He was invited by the Senate
joint committee on public service and
establishment led by Aloysius Etok to defend
himself but refused to honor any invitation, the
Senate subsequently issued an arrest warrant
on him. Maina absconded the country after the
police management withdrew his security details
and placed him on Wanted List. He was equally
fired from the Civil service for absconding from
duty and his failure to respond to summons.
It is unfortunate that such a man could be
returned to the service through the backdoor by
an administration that came to power through
its anti corruption rhetoric.
Who Is Liable For Maina's Return?
In my candid opinion, the following people are
primarily liable for the return of Maina.
1. Gen (Dr) Abdulrahman Dambazzau: The
Interior minister, who is also in charge of
supervision of Nigeria Police that had declared
Maina a fugitive cannot turnaround to claim
innocence. The fugitive was posted to his
ministry as a director of Human Relations (if his
claim is correct). Part of citizens responsibility
(as demanded by the law) is to arrest fugitives
and hand them over to security agencies or give
valuable information that will lead to arrest of
fugitive. Maina, being a fugitive was supposed to
have been arrested by citizen Dambazzau and
handover to the Police or EFCC that declared
him Wanted. As public servant, Dambazzau is
under a oath to uphold, protect and defend the
laws of land, which he failed to in this case.
2. Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita (Head of Service, HOSF):
She is in charge of posting, reposting and
discipline of civil servants. I am very sure she is
aware of Maina return and approved his
payment of benefits. As HOSF, she was expected
to understand the implication of the return of
Maina as an infringement on civil service rules.
3. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior:
Being the Chief Accounting Officer of the
ministry, the "Perm sec" cannot claim ignorance
of this backdoor appointment.
4. President Muhammadu Buhari: The bucks
stops at his table! He can't claim ignorance of
Maina return because such senior level
appointment/reappointment cannot take effect
without his authorised approval/signature upon
the recommendations of HOSF and Federal Civil
Service Commission. His recent claim of
ignorance is simply face-saving to get someone
take the fall.
Appropriate Action
What is appropriate now is for the President to
fire/suspend everyone with link (or possible link)
to the reappointment of Maina and judiciously
institute a probe to unravel all the real
perpetrators of this wicked act. They have
betrayed the trusts of Nigeria people especially
pensioners, whose monies were squandered by
Maina and likes after putting decades into the
service of the country.
As for Buhari, I'm sure Nigerians should be
tired of him already. The scandal he has been
linked with in less than 3 years in government is
more than the entire scandal in the 5+ years of
the past administration. He has no moral
justification remaining in office beyond the May
29, 2019 mandate given him by the Nigeria
electorate on March 28, 2015 and which came to
effect on May 29, 2015.
Sacking Maina is not enough, Baba Must Go!

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