Minister of Interior, Lt Gen (Rtd) Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, has washed his hands off the reinstatement and posting of former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force Team on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina , to his Ministry.
While admitting that the posting of Maina to the ministry, he made it clear that every process involved in the reinstatement was orchestrated at Office of the Head of Service.
Not a few Nigerian were stunned by the report last Friday that the former taskforce chair who is still under probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged frauds in the neighbourhood of N2billion.
Mr. Maina was in 2013 declared wanted by the EFCC and there is no indication that the order had been vacated..
“Dark complexioned Maina is allegedly complicit in the over N 2 billion Pensions Biometric Scam in the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation. He remains at large, after charges were filed against his accomplices,” the EFCC stated on its website.
Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party’s Governors Forum, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, said on his official Twitter handle that, “Someone accused of stealing billions of pension fund was returned to the FG civil service and you still think Buhari is fighting corruption?”
According to Dambazzu, “The ex- Chairman of the Presidential Task Force Team on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, was posted few days ago to the Ministry of Interior by the Office of the Head of Service on an Acting capacity to fill a vacancy created following the retirement of the Director heading the Human Resources Department in the Ministry.”
Dambazau made this known in a statement signed by Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, his press secretary .
The statement reads: “ The attention of the Honorable Minister of Interior, Lt Gen (Rtd) Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, has been drawn to a report with the underlined caption, published on October 20th, 2017 by Premium Times.
“The publication, which queries the re-instatement of former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, reportedly claimed that the Interior Minister was one of those behind the said re-instatement.
“It is observed that some insinuations as it concerns the Interior Minister were presented as facts, hence the compelling need to proffer some clarifications for reference purposes.
“The ex- Chairman of the Presidential Task Force Team on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, was posted few days ago to the Ministry of Interior by the Office of the Head of Service on an Acting capacity to fill a vacancy created following the retirement of the Director heading the Human Resources Department in the Ministry.
“For the avoidance of doubt, issues relating to Discipline, Employment, Re-engagement, Posting, Promotion and Retirements of Federal Civil Servants are the responsibility of the Federal Civil Service Commission and Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, of which no Minister exercises such powers as erroneously expressed in this publication.
“It is understood that Maina’s last posting was with the Ministry of Interior, and that is probably why he was re-posted back to the Ministry.
“It is, therefore, improper for anybody to think that a Minister could exercise such powers or influence the process of Discipline, Re-engagement, and Deployment of any civil servant to his Ministry or any other Ministry for that matter. Again Such responsibility is that of the Federal Civil Service Commission and/or the Head of Civil Service.
“We, therefore, admonish journalists to cross check their facts before going to the press, as we see Nigerian media as dependable allies in our onerous task of nation building. In any case, the relevant institutions of government are alive to their responsibilities regarding the allegations confronting Mr. Maina.”
