A former Assistant Director of the
Department of State Services, Dennis Amacree, says the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission knows where the ex-Chairman of the defunct
Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, is.
Amacree said this during an interview on a breakfast television show, Sunrise Daily, on Channels Television on Thursday.
Also,
the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, has called on
President Muhammadu Buhari to arrest and prosecute Maina.
When
asked if the EFCC should seek help from sister agencies in finding
Maina, Amacree said, “Well, they can do that but I believe strongly that
they know where he is. They do but it might be difficult for them to
get to him because he has surrounded himself with a bunch of people.”
Amacree
said the DSS also possessed intelligence on Maina’s whereabouts but the
feud between the acting EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, and the DSS
Director General, Lawal Daura, was preventing the two agencies from
cooperating.
“The EFCC is looking for him but it was claimed that
the DSS was protecting him and so intelligence will not be shared. The
break in synergy did not start today. Remember that Magu was supposed to
be confirmed by the Senate and he hasn’t been confirmed till now
because of a letter from the DSS. So, there is no love lost between
them.”
He said there was a general belief that President Muhammadu Buhari was fully aware of Maina’s reinstatement and his whereabouts.
The
former DSS assistant director wondered why Buhari would go ahead to
reinstate Maina after the Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred
Oyo-Ita, warned him against it.
“The HoS said she advised the President not to reinstate Maina. So, let someone come out and tell us the truth,” he added.
Amacree
said Maina’s governorship posters were all over the streets of
Maiduguri, adding that the intention of those who reinstated him was to
make him the next governor of Borno State.
He said, “If you go to
Maiduguri you will see his posters everywhere where he says he wants to
be governor. I don’t think he came back because he just wanted to be a
director in the ministry. I think this was one of the steps he wanted to
take before becoming governor.”
The former DSS official said the
open argument between the HoS and the President’s Chief of Staff, Abba
Kyari, at the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday showed that
there was disunity within Buhari’s cabinet
“You can see the
anger in the HoS. Apparently she feels they are dragging her into
something she was not aware of. So, it was her way of expressing that
this is wrong.”
When asked to explain how Maina, who is wanted by
the EFCC, returned into the country and resumed work at the Ministry of
Interior, Amacree said it was due to the lack of cooperation among
security agencies.
He said, “That shows you the gap of
communication that is right now and I think it is something that must be
fixed right away. He is on the EFCC wanted list and they are accusing
the DSS of protecting him and it has been back and forth.
“All the fingers are now pointing at the Attorney-General of the Federation but no one is coming out to say anything.”
Afenifere,
which frowned on the alleged recalling and promotion of Maina in the
federal service, said Maina’s case was an embarrassment
to the anti-corruption fight of the current administration.
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