Family members of former chairman of Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, have threatened to expose the cabal in Aso Rock behind his travails.
They also threatened to sue the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), just as they insisted that their son is not a fraudster but a messiah who brought reforms into the pension scheme.
At a news conference in Kaduna, yesterday, spokesman of the family, Aliyu Maina, accused a “cabal” of being behind ex-PENCOM boss’ travails.
Aliyu, who wondered why government officials were denying his brother, claimed it was the Department of State Services (DSS) that gave him protection.
“It is on record that Abdulrasheed Maina’s reform put to a stop the fraudulent withdrawal of huge sums from both the Nigerian Pension Board, the Nigerian Police Pension Board, etc. Perhaps, it is his noble efforts that made him enviable to the present administration when they came into power to convince him to come back and assist in its “Change’ agenda.
“Abdulrasheed was, in fact, invited by this administration and he was promised security to come and clean up the mess and generate more revenue to government by blocking leakages.
“He succumbed to the present administration and came back to Nigeria. He has been working with the DSS for quite some time and was given necessary security.
“There is a letter from the Attorney General of the Federation where he gave his own legal opinion regarding the court verdict, which was submitted to the Civil Service Commission and the head of service respectively. So, one wonders why all the agencies and various individuals responsible for his return are now denying,” he stated.
Asked to comment on Maina’s whereabouts, Aliyu said: “As you know, Abdulrasheed Maina had been a target of attack in the past; so experience is the best teacher. But, when his security is guaranteed, he will surface from wherever he is and tell Nigerians the truth.”
Aliyu, who said the family had sought the intervention of its lawyers, added that Maina would soon make some damning revelations. “We have contacted our solicitors, Messrs Mamman Nasir & Co and instructed them to act appropriately. We equally know that Abdulrasheed Maina is in possession of so many facts that are against the cabal and interesting to the Nigerian populace, which he will disclose soonest. One must ask whether it is an offence for somebody to serve his fatherland,” he said
The family said Maina inherited the houses, which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently seized in Kaduna. He said the anti-graft agency had ordered the family members to vacate their residential house in Kaduna.
But the DSS declined comment on the claim by Maina’s family that it provided him protection. When Daily Sun contacted, the spokesperson of the service, Mr. Nnana Nnochiri, said: “Please, I am in a meeting but if it is Maina’s issue you want me to react to, I want to tell you that I don’t have any comment on the matter.” And he ended the call.
But the second republic lawmaker, Alhaji Junaid and chairman of the Kaduna branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Festus Okoye, said President Buhari and the Federal Government must come clean on the matter.
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