A lawyer for the former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, Mr Muhammad Sani Katu, on Thursday stated that his client was not dismissed from the civil service.
He made this known while responding to an inquiry, as the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee set up to investigate the case, commenced hearing.
Katu claimed that his client has been receiving his emoluments, adding that even as of a month ago he received files from the ministry to be treated by him.
The lawyer has also asked the committee to grant special leave for protection, asking all law enforcement agencies to allow Maina move freely to attend the hearing.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on October 23 dismissed Maina from the Federal Civil Service and demanded a full report of the circumstances of his recall.
His dismissal follows his return to the country and his alleged reinstatement into office which sparked reactions and outrages.
It can be recalled that the former pension’s boss was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for an alleged N2billion pensions biometric scam in November 2015, a 24-count bothering on procurement fraud and obtaining money under false pretense.
He reportedly disappeared from public glare only to resurface in October 2017, to take charge as an Acting Director in the Ministry of Interior.
As the controversy deepened, some government offices were named as being involved in the reinstatement of the former pensions boss.
The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau accused the office of the Civil Service of the Federation, of reinstating him.
The Head of the Civil Service Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, however, countered the report and denied approving the reinstatement.
In a statement, she said the “purported reinstatement and posting by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation is totally erroneous and misleading.
Oyo-Ita also stated that she had written to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, warning of the implication of reinstating Mr Maina.
In a leaked memo titled “Re: Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina,” and obtained by Punch, Oyo-Ita claimed she had met President Buhari on October 11 to warn against such actions.
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