BY SEGUN ADEBAYO, ABUJA – The controversy surrounding the reported reinstatement of former Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina into the Federal Civil Service took a dramatic turn on Monday with Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita disowning the vexatious memo.
This is as Presidential sources claimed heads may roll over the case that has thoroughly embarrassed the President given the mounting public outcry and condemnation that the anti-corruption war is effectively dead with this ugly development.
According to Mrs Oyo-Ita, there is no iota of truth in the reports that her office purportedly approved the recall and re-instatement of Maina into the Service as claimed by the Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), who also denied involvement in the letter that conveyed Maina’s subsequent posting to his Ministry.
In distancing herself from the fraudulent letter that has drawn so much public irk, the Head of Service said “the purported re-instatement and posting by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation is totally erroneous and misleading.”
According to a three paragraph statement dated October 23, 2017 and signed by Assistant Director (Media Relations), HSCF, Mohammed Manga, HCSF never authored the memo that allegedly re-instated and subsequently assigned new roles to Abdullahi Maina in the Interior Ministry.
Full text of the statement titled: “HCSF DID NOT RE-INSTATE MAINA” said; “The attention of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has been drawn to several media reports that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has 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.”
On Sunday and early Monday morning, the media space was awash with reports quoting Lt Gen Dambazau as acknowledging that Maina, who is on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s watch list of wanted persons, has been deployed to his ministry by the Head of Service some days back.
Dambazau had in a statement by the Ministry’s Press secretary, Ehisienmen Osaigbovo in Abuja on Sunday, said Maina was sent to the Ministry in an acting capacity to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Director, Human Resources Department.
That Interior Ministry’s statement, which sparked of series of events, including the Presidential order that effectively dismissed Maina from the Federal Service, had read: “The ex-chairman of the Presidential Task Force Team on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, was posted a few days ago to the Ministry of Interior by the Office of the Head of Service in an acting capacity to fill a vacancy following the retirement of the director heading the human resources department in the Ministry.”
