As the presidential searchlight beams on the mysterious re-absorption of Abdulrasheed Maina, fugitive former chairman of the National Pensions Reform Board, into the Ministry of Interior, indications have shown that heads are bound to roll, any moment soon.
At the centre of the controversial return into public service of a wanted Maina, are the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau; the Head of the Federal Civil Service, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
But of the three, Dambazau and Oyo-Ita present what observers have described as “the real drama of the absurd”, in the no-less dramatic show. Here is the re-employment of a man who is on the run because he is being wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, over the disappearance of over N100bn pensioners’ sweat.
While Dambazau appears technically exonerated, having acted on a directive, it is still to be established if Oyo-Ita, the HoS, was completely by-passed in the secret deal. Again, Malami, the Attorney-General, may have to explain the yardsticks allegedly deployed by him to clear a man believed to have run away from justice
When the media blew the whistle over the sighting of Maina on the seat of Director of Human Resources at the interior ministry, Dambazau quickly came out to defend the seeming apparition, saying it was for real.
According to the minister, who is a retired Army General, the re-absorption of Maina was mandated by the office of the Head of Federal Civil Service.
Wondrously, Maina, now widely acclaimed as a cat with nine lives, was even promoted from deputy director to a director, after his unannounced return from the shadows.
But shifting the blame of the fraudulent act from his patio, Dambazau urged Nigerians to ask Oyo-Ita, the HoS, to explain why she mandated him, via a letter, to re-employ Maina.
Speaking through his Press Secretary, Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, in a statement, the embattled minister said, “The publication, which queried the reinstatement of former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, reportedly claimed that the Interior Minister was one of those behind the said reinstatement.
“It is observed that some insinuations as they concerned 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.”
On why Maina found his way back to the Ministry where he worked last before the bubble burst, and not elsewhere as common with civil service tradition in Nigeria, an embattled Dambazau said, “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.”
Apparently outraged that the Interior Minister was about to implicate her, a distraught Oyo-Ita quickly denied the accusation, saying her office never issued any letter re-employing Maina.
In a statement by her Assistant Director, Media Relations, Mohammed Manga, the HoS said both Maina’s reinstatement and posting were strange to her.
She said her attention “has been drawn to several media reports that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had approved the reinstatement into the Federal Civil Service of Alhaji Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina and his subsequent posting to the Ministry of Interior.
“The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation 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.”
However, fresh indications showed that the letter recalling Maina was written by the Federal Civil Service Commission, after the office of the Attorney-General of the federation had cleared him of any wrongdoing.
While Dambazau appears technically exonerated, having acted on a directive, it is still to be established if Oyo-Ita, the HoS, was completely by-passed in the secret deal. Again, Malami, the Attorney-General, may have to explain the yardsticks allegedly deployed by him to clear a man believed to have run away from justice.
Already, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an inquest into the show of shame, wanting the list of all those who are culpable in the unethical and criminal return of Maina.
Interestingly, an alarmed EFCC, ignited by the news that the man they had long sought after was right at their nose, whooshed at top speed to Maina’s posh office at the Ministry of Interior, only to meet no one.
Did Maina quickly escape, having been tipped off, or did he play a fast one through supernatural disappearance?
More of the drama beckons, in the days ahead.
