Reps committee indicts Malami on Maina’s recall

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A House of Representatives ad-hoc committee has indicted the
Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice,
Abubakar Malami, for his role in the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed
Maina, who was dismissed from service over pension fund fraud.

Maina, former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT),
was dismissed in 2013 and subsequently declared wanted by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) when he failed to
appear for questioning.

However, the House panel, which By Musa Abdullahi Krishi
investigated the controversial circumstances in which Maina was
promoted and reinstated into the service, said the Attorney General
was the “architect” of the crisis.

Following media reports about Maina’s secret reinstatement,
President Muhammadu Buhari ordered his immediate sack.

He also directed the Head of the Civil Service of the
Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, to submit a report on how Maina
was recalled into the service.

The House in October resolved to probe the matter, which it
described as embarrassing and unacceptable.

The report laid on the floor of the House a fortnight ago, said
Maina’s reinstatement was “fraudulently masterminded” and that the
Attorney General “pressurized all that mattered” to force Maina
back into the service.

The report, seen by Daily Trust, said it was established that
the Attorney General met with Maina in Dubai knowing full well that
the ex-pension task force boss was a wanted person.

It said there was undue interference and pressure on the Federal
Civil Service Commission (FCSC) from Malami on the matter.

The panel said it was curious that Malami could facilitate
Maina’s recall when he admitted that the ex-pension chief was part
of a ‘pension syndicate’ that fed fat on pension fund.

The AGF’s actions on the reinstatement contravened Section 158
of the 1999 constitution, the panel said in its 13-page report.

Section158 (1) of the constitution states: “In exercising its
power to make appointments or to exercise disciplinary control over
persons, the Code of Conduct Bureau, the National Judicial Council,
the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Federal Judicial Service
Commission, the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, the
Federal Character Commission, and the Independent National
Electoral Commission shall not be subject to the direction or
control of any other authority or person.”

“The Attorney General knew that Maina is a fugitive, yet he met
him in Dubai. Maina’s reinstatement didn’t follow due process and
it was fraudulently masterminded,” the report said.

The panel, therefore, recommended that the AGF should be
reprimanded and cautioned.

It further said he should be advised on the best way to deal
with such issues and not to interfere in matters he has no
jurisdiction over.

Similarly, the panel said it found the Permanent Secretary in
the ministry of interior, Engr Abubakar Magaji, wanting for his
role in documenting Maina following the purported
reinstatement.

It said his action was done without the necessary written
clearance from the office of the Head of Service of the
Federation.

Although the panel noted that Magaji was remorseful over his
conduct, it recommended that he too should be cautioned.

Also, the panel noted that the Federal Civil Service Commission
(FCSC) erred by taking directive from the Attorney General to
recommend Maina’s reinstatement in contravention of Section 158 of
the constitution.

It recommended that the commission should be asked to stick to
civil service rules in such matters and not to succumb to pressure
from any quarters.
The Senior Staff Committee (SSC) constituted to look into the
possibility of Maina’s recall, which eventually recommended his
re-engagement, should be cautioned, the panel said.

The report of the 12-member panel, headed by Aliyu Sani Madaki
(APC, Kano), said Maina’s 2013 dismissal from the civil service
remains valid and his reinstatement is voided.

It equally noted the insistence of the Head of Service, Oyo-Ita,
in opposing Maina’s reinstatement and that the right thing should
be done.

The report said the Nigeria Immigration Service had no role in
Maina’s disappearance, his return into the country and his
reinstatement into the civil service.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences
Commission (ICPC) is equally cleared by the report.

But the report noted that the police were not forthcoming with
information regarding issue.

On the EFCC, the panel said the commission did not play any role
as a letter purportedly written to Immigration Service clearing
Maina never emanated from the anti-graft agency.

Maina, who chaired the pension task force during the
administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was alleged
to have mismanaged billions of naira meant for pensioners across
the country.

The 7th Senate that also probed the matter indicted him for the
offence. Following the indictment, EFCC declared him wanted, but he
was thought to have fled the country at the time.

He reportedly returned to the country surreptitiously early last
year, reported for duty at the ministry of Interior with the rank
of a director even though he was dismissed as an assistant director
in 2013.

The probe
During the committee’s hearing on the matter on November 23, 2017,
Maina did not appear before the panel in person. He was represented
by a group of lawyers led by Barrister Mohammed Sani Katu.

His lawyers listed conditions for his appearance before the
panel, including a guarantee that no security agency should arrest
or harass him if he showed up to testify.He never turned up, a
source close to the panel said.

Maina also argued through his lawyers that he was not properly
sacked from the civil service because even before the purported
dismissal, he had gone to court to challenge the action, insisting
that those that purportedly sacked him had no such powers to do
so.

“On the issue of his disappearance, he had to disappear because
there were so many threats to his life,” Katu had told the
panel.

Barrister Katu said Maina was reinstated on grade level 16 via a
letter dated 28th September, 2017 from the interior ministry signed
by one Dr Aki Attahiru.
Malami said he could not recall signing any letter directing the
Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) to reinstate Maina, saying
the matter was still “a work in progress and not concluded” as at
October 5, 2017.

He told the panel that there indeed existed pension fraud with a
syndicate, including serving and retired civil servants,
legislators, and public office holders.
The head of service, Oyo-Ita also told the panel that after Maina’s
dismissal from the civil service in 2013, her office started
receiving letters from the AGF, asking for his reinstatement.

She said the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC)
consequently wrote to her to request that the Ministry of Interior
should review Maina’s sack. A Senior Staff Committee was
constituted to review the case but it upheld the dismissal.
However, she said, shortly after that, the commission wrote another
letter to reinstate Maina.
A second committee was constituted, which recommended Maina’s
reinstatement.

The head of service said: “Once I got that letter, I held on to
it, because I needed more clarification on that. So, I was
surprised to see that without giving any letter, the said Mr Maina
was re-absorbed and posted back to the interior ministry.

“I want to make it clear that without the civil service
conveying the official communication to him, he shouldn’t have been
posted to the ministry.”