Maina opens more can of worms, tells how Senate, HoS, Police helped those stealing pension funds

Nigerians have definitely not heard the last of the adventures of the embattled Abdulrasheed Maina, former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms.

Maina who has again vanished from public view, spoke from hiding, accusing the 7th Senate under the leadership of Senator David Mark of complicating issues and aiding those stealing pension funds in the country.

He also alleged that at least N256 billion is still stolen monthly from the pension scheme, and that the efforts of his team exposed 73,000 ghost pensioners in the office of the Head of Service alone.

“Some pensioners got a backlog of about 30 years paid into their accounts. All payments were ordered under the signature of the Head of Service monthly,” Maina said.

The now wanted Maina also, claimed that there is evidence to show, that “Today, it (pension) is worse with the Police Pension Office, where millions are taken out of pension funds daily”.

He made the claims in a letter purportedly written to the Senate on June 19, 2015, which was leaked on Friday.

Maina’s issue has drawn the ire of many Nigerians in the last few weeks who accuse the Muhammadu Buhari administration of aiding corruption, by letting the wanted PRTT boss not only find his way back to the civil service, but was seemingly promoted, despite being wanted by the Exonomic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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The Maina saga has also caused friction between the office of the Head of Service (HoS) and that of the Chief of Staff to the President, who both accuse each other of complicity in the recall of Maina to office.

Maina, on his part has alleged that his travails were because of his anti-corruption crusade against pension thieves which prevented them from diverting N5.32 billion monthly from the Office of the Head of Service and Police Pension Office.
Maina claimed that he was being subjected to relentless persecution and media trial because of his history of anti-corruption fight, a situation he blamed on the beneficiaries of the fraud he successfully ended.

He said in the leaked letter, referenced PRTT/PEN/NASS/SEN/16/ VOL1/05, that over N3tn was yet to be recouped from 97 pension offices before he fled the country the first time, after attempts were made on his life.

The letter was said to have been sent to the office to the Senate President through Senator Nneji Achonu representing Imo North Senatorial Zone.

The letter was titled: “Pension reform task team — Appeal for review of investigation by the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service and States and Local Government Administration, 2011 – 2013.”

It read in part, “We, members of the Pensions Reform Task Team, wish to use this medium to apologise for our little late response to reaching back to you. We had to put the issues together and source for appurtenant materials. We appreciate your understanding, sir.

“As a refresher, the PRTT was inaugurated on June 10, 2010, by the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, with a clear mandate to restructure the Head of Service Pension Office, Police Pension Office, among others. We did our utmost best with precision and national interests as our guiding principles.

“The PRTT took off effectively by January 2011. We used financial intelligence skills to achieve groundbreaking achievements in our assignment.

“N256bn is still stolen monthly. As it is, there is a leakage of N256bn monthly from the current IPPIS, which needs to be blocked urgently. We are also aware of some government hidden accounts which need to be mopped up. We can be used to engage any department of government in sanitising the financial workflow to avoid loose ends that remain susceptible to leakages.

“Based on the revelations of massive/monumental fraud and outright stealing of pension funds, which was brought to public attention by the PRTT, the 7th National Assembly by resolution dated November 2, 2011, mandated its Committee on Establishment and Public Service, State and Local Government Administration, to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the management and administration of Pension funds in Nigeria.

“There were general expectations that the various dimensions of irregularities associated with the management of pension funds in Nigeria would come to an end as a consequence of the investigations being conducted by the Senate Joint Committee.”

It stated further, that “Some pensioners got a backlog of about 30 years paid into their accounts. All payments were ordered under the signature of the Head of Service monthly”.

According to him, the ICPC started an investigation into the matter, but “till date, they have yet to commence the prosecution.”

“Today, it (pension) is worse with the Police Pension Office, where millions are taken out of pension funds daily. We have pieces of evidence to substantiate this.

“As we write to you, Abdulrasheed A. Maina has been dismissed from the Civil Service for being absent for three days, while his life was under threat following a gunshot attack on his person in front of the Head of Civil Service Office, where his office was located in February, 2013. Attached are copies of letters from the Nigeria Police Force. ANNEXURE 3 (a) and (b),” the letter said.

 

 

 

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