Maina:It didn’t emanate from my office, Head of Service of the Federation

Meanwhile, the Head of Service of the Federation, HoSF, yesterday, washed her hands off the process that led to the reinstatement of Maina, saying his recall did not emanate from her office. The HoSF in a statement by the Head of Media, Mohammed Manga, said she neither approved Maina’s reinstatement nor promotion to the rank of an acting director and posting to the Interior Ministry as Head of Human Resources. Manga said, “The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) wishes to inform the public that the reinstatement and posting of Alhaji Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina never emanated from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. “Consequently, the purported reinstatement and posting by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation is totally erroneous and misleading.”

We know nothing of this — DSS In the same vein, the  Department of State Services, DSS, also washed its hands off the affair, saying it did not smuggle the embattled officer into his new office while on the wanted list of the EFCC. The DSS in a statement made available to Vanguard last night said:  “The DSS, hereby, states categorically that it has no hand in the recall or reinstatement of Mr Abdullahi Abdulrasheed Maina. “There was no correspondence of any sort between the DSS and the Head of Service with respect to Mr. Maina. The DSS is not investigating him nor handling any matter connected to Maina and neither has the DSS ever forwarded any correspondence to Mr President or any arm of government for the recall or reinstatement of Maina. “The Service is aware that Mr. Maina is a civil servant and any disciplinary action as regards Maina’s official conduct will, therefore, be handled as required by the civil service rules. So it will, therefore, be absurd for anybody to imply or insinuate that the DSS has a hand in the recall or reinstatement of Maina.”

It’s shocking  — PDP Reacting to the development, yesterday, the PDP in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, expressed shock at the manner of Maina’s reinstatement. The party said:  “We demand the immediate sack of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Abdulrahman Danbazzau, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who have been fingered in the illegal act of restoring Maina to office against good conscience. “All people of good conscience will not forget in a hurry that Maina, who was given an assignment by the last administration of the PDP to superintend the now defunct Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, dipped his hands into the jar and helped himself to N100 billion of what he was supposed to safeguard. “With good conscience at fighting corruption, the PDP government then mandated the anti-corruption agencies to perform their constitutional duty. Maina fled, only to resurface in the country four months ago under the Buhari administration.

“While we are growing fatigued shouting ourselves hoarse in protest against nepotism, a clear form of corruption under this administration which has been elevated to state craft, we are appalled that the reinforcement of financial corruption by this government might soon lead to the demise of this nation if the celestial does not intervene,” the statement read in part. The party also expressed worry over government’s inability to tolerate criticism, saying shielding criminals has become part of the ruling party’s work ethic. “We are worried that the APC administration seems to have grown thick skin to constructive criticism, otherwise, no sane government, in spite of the open condemnation the party has received from Nigerians over its protection of those accused, will repeat another one as done in the case of Maina. “The PDP wishes Nigerians can demand from the APC government, the civil service rule it relied upon in promoting a wanted criminal who had abandoned his duty post as an Assistant Director, to the position of a Director with all benefits attached. “We wish the APC government will tell Nigerians where and when, and under which court jurisdiction, Maina was cleared of his criminal allegations of stealing, warranting his restoration to duty and getting rewarded with double promotion,” the statement continued.

“We are shocked and sad as well that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with its viable network under the administration of the PDP has suddenly lost steam to the point that it wasn’t aware of the entrance of a high class wanted criminal into the country until the media exposed it. “Nigerians can see that the APC administration has taken the fire out of our security agencies like the Police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the likes. “Nigerians will not forget in a hurry that the President Buhari administration has severally shown it’s commitments to protecting financial criminals who are willing to play ball and are known to be ardent supporters of the ruling party,” it added. Citing instances to corroborate its claims against the Buhari-led government, the PDP urged the President to rise to the demands of his office and act in the interest of the nation. “Nigerians have not forgotten in a hurry how the so-called corruption fighting government of President Buhari refused to allow the law take its course in the graft allegations involving the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal and the Director-General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke.

“The government seem to have also buried without shame, the expose by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu on the illegal award of contracts running to over $25 Billion by the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) who has told the world that he has the support of President Buhari in carrying out the heist. “Though we know that the APC is like a dead horse immune to any positive prompting, we, however, will not do, but ask that the right thing be done. “In this wise, we ask that  President Buhari should for once, act like a President of a nation and not as a sectional leader whose ideas of right and wrong depends entirely on who is involved. “We, therefore demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of Maina for his atrocities, arrest, and prosecution of those who helped him return to the country and got restored to his duty post with promotion,” the party stated.

Those involved should be arrested — Sagay Reacting to the development, yesterday, Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), called for the arrest of those involved in Maina’s absorption into the service even as he lauded the president’s intervention. “When a man accused of serious crimes, has been on the run and has been on the wanted list for what I will call a crime against humanity, when you deprive retired old people, who have served the country for decades and sacrificed for the country and have retired and looking forward to the small amount to live the rest of their lives with and one man comes and swoops away everything for himself, for me, that is a crime against humanity. “Therefore, anybody who absolves a man like that who has been on the run, someone who has committed such heinous crimes and absolved him back quietly into the Civil Service of this country, that person, in my view is an accessory after the fact. In other words, whatever Maina is guilty of; he is guilty of supporting him after being aware of the crime. Such a person would be tried along with Maina.” On the President’s directive, he said: “The President has given the right directive that he should be disengaged. You know the Presidency cannot do it directly; it has to be done by the Public Service Commission. The President has given the directive that he (Maina) should be disengaged, arrested, charged and tried.”