Pension fraud : Maina’s dirty deals

Despite the recent claim by the family of the embattled former Chairman of the presidential Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Mr Abdulrasheed Maina, that a cabal has been behind his travails, fresh facts have emerged detailing how he allegedly used his position to defraud Nigerian pensioners and corruptly enrich himself. Sunday Sun investigations also showed that the Presidency, which inherited the pension fund scandal on assumption of office in May 2015, had been making efforts to bring Maina and his accomplices to book before his secret return and reinstatement into the civil service.

Thus, the Presidency was taken aback with Maina’s purported reinstatement, which attracted widespread public opprobrium, resulting in President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that he should be immediately dismissed from service.

Findings showed that the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice had in a letter to the Economic and Financial crimes Commission (EFCC) dated July 1, 2016 with reference number DPPA/PRTT/192/16 appealed to the Commission to assist the government in intelligence gathering, tracing and recovery of funds allegedly siphoned by Maina and his co-accused.

The EFCC, in its response dated August 1, 2016 and titled “Re: Abdulrasheed A. Maina Reform Task Team Appeal: Appeal for Intervention to Assist Government in Intelligence Gathering in Various Fields and Funds Tracing, Recovery, Blocking Leakages in Government Expenditure and Other Such Services Both Within and Without”, which Sunday Sun obtained in confidence, revealed that Maina and his cohorts allegedly stole and laundered pension fund to the tune of N14, 374,236,846.09. “Investigation revealed that Abdulrasheed Maina was deeply involved in stealing the same pension funds he was tasked with protecting by using staff under him and their associated persons and “Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) contractors” to receive payment for non-existing biometric enrolment contracts, inflated contracts and “collective allowances” among other questionable payments worth hundreds of millions of naira which were remitted in cash to him. It was also discovered that Maina was involved in a complex web of money laundering involving him, his family members, corporate entities and his account officers,” the letter explained.

The letter, which was signed by the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, showed that the PRTT under Maina spent the sum of N5, 761,150,608.44 on fictitious contracts; N829, 902,260.40 on ghost workers; N1, 365,821,942.91 on collective allowances; N4, 192,825,310.99 on payment to States Pension Boards and others; N2, 290,593,322.35 on National Union of Pensioners; and N253, 390,300 on Association of Federal Public Service Retirees (AFPSR).