FOLLOWING public outcry, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate disengagement of Mr Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, from the civil service.
He had been recently secretly re-engaged in the Nigerian civil service and promoted from Assistant Director to the rank of an acting Director heading a directorate in the Interior ministry.
The revelation drew public outcry causing the president to order his disengagement while demanding a full report on the matter.
This was contained in a statement issued by Special Adviser to be president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, issued in Abuja on Monday.
The terse statement said the president’s order is contained in a memo to the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita.
He demanded a full explanation on the circumstances surrounding the reabsorption and posting to the Ministry of Interior, noting that the report should be submitted to the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.
The statement added: “President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the immediate disengagement from service of Mr Abdullahi Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms.
“In a memo to the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the President equally demanded a full report of the circumstances of Maina’s recall and posting to the Ministry of Interior.
“The report is to be submitted to the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, before the end of work today, Monday, October 23, 2017.
Maina was appointed in 2010 to sanitize the pension system by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration but was in 2012 accused of leading a massive pension fraud scheme amounting to more than N100 billion.
He consequently fled the country to evade prosecution.