By Chibuike Nwabuko
ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – There are indications that the former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Force, Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina, has a long standing duping record which clears doubts in the minds of those privy to this to the possibility of his involvement in the alleged N2billion pension scam for which he was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
Admitting but without conceding that Maina was a victim of blackmail or political witch-hunt in the alleged pension fraud by the previous government, now that a new government in place allegedly extended olive branch to him, the first thing for Maina to have done is to clear his name from the pension fraud allegation dangling on his neck to put the record straight.
Rather than doing this, Maina decided to toe his familiar path by trying to rail road himself into the civil service with promotion through the back door and high level connections. If those who were accused with Maina have faced their charges and cleared their names, the reason being adduced by Maina to not facing trial to extricate himself and clear his name is tantamount to standing logic on its head.
Successive governments cannot be said to be against him. If Maina feels safe to be reinstated with promotion to the civil service by this government, why will he not have confidence in the government that he will get fair hearing and be cleared of all alleged charges if indeed he was innocent.
Maina’s dubious behaviour dates back to the days of the late Head of State, Gen Sanni Abacha when he once swindled the family tens of millions of naira.
According to Daily Trust, Maina convinced the head of state’s sons to award him a contract to furnish Arewa Suites (hotel) which they had just acquired, after getting them believe that he knew a lot about furnishing and interior decoration during his stay in America. Maina had then just returned to Nigeria after a failed school sojourn in the United States.
The story continues: The Abacha family gave Maina tens of millions of naira to furnish the hotel and he left Nigeria for the US where he converted the money to his personal use. He never furnished the hotel despite collecting down payment, the source said.
When Maina sneaked into Nigeria nearly a year later, then Chief Security Officer to Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, had him arrested at the airport. Maina was kept in a military detention facility for many months, Daily Trust said.
It was learnt that Abdulrasheed Maina’s father, the late Alhaji Aliyu Biu, was a member of the Biu royal family. He spent many years in Sokoto as the Chief Passport Officer at the Nigeria Immigration Service office before he transferred to the Foreign Service in the early 1990s.
He subsequently became Nigeria’s ambassador to Mauritania and later to Chad. In between the two postings, he was also a protocol officer at the State House in Abuja. The sources also said Abdulrasheed’s surname, Maina, is another name for Alhaji Aliyu Biu. The former pension boss is believed to have relocated his mother to one of his Kaduna houses which were sealed last week by the Economic and Financial crimes Commission (EFCC).
Sundiata Post recalls that the EFCC, on November 2, 2015 declared Abdulrsheed Maina wanted for his role in the stolen N2billion pension fund.
But in a controversial circumstance, Maina was recently reabsorbed into the civil service, promoted to the position of Director and posted to Ministry of Interior.
However, upon the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, who apparently responded to nation-wide outcry Maina’s reabsorption into the Federal Civil Service was terminated.