BEVERLY HILLS, November 16, (THEWILL) – Notwithstanding the controversies that have continued to trail the return from self-exile and reinstatement of former pensions boss, Abdulrasheed Maina, the nation awaits President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision on the report he ordered concerning the recall of the official.
Though Buhari did order his immediate disengagement from the federal civil service, there is a strong desire amongst the public to see those responsible for his safe passage into the country, despite an international warrant for his arrest and absurd reinstatement into office punished for their role.
The Head of Service, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, the top official that heads the entire federal civil service structure submitted the report to the presidency on October 24, 2017, as directed by the president and nothing has been heard since then.
This development has not gone well amongst discerning Nigerians who see the situation as a conflicting stand on the anti-corruption war.
Checks by the media have clearly revealed the roles of at least two top officials — the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN and the Minister of Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau in the saga.
We therefore wonder why it is taking the president this long to either bring those involved to swift judgement or give them a pat on the back. After all, the president’s initial spontaneous reaction to the saga when it became public knowledge was to immediately order Maina’s sack.
THEWILL recalls that prior to Mr. Maina’s sack, his family had alleged in a public statement that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government facilitated his return to contribute to the party’s change agenda.
Although the presidency had dismissed the allegation saying it was fabricated to embarrass government, events that have unfolded since his return, lay credence to its veracity and the fact that the Federal Government may be planning a soft-landing for him.
An allegation of this magnitude cannot be swept under the carpet by a government that professes to be fighting corruption.
We urge President Buhari to act without further delay and carry the public along in their expectation of a decisive anti-graft crusade, to avoid the growing speculation that the Federal Government indeed, had a hand in the saga.
It is unacceptable that action on an important report that was submitted to the president weeks back could lag so unnecessarily.
THEWILL calls on the media and civil society groups to mount pressure on the president to do the needful.
Besides, government’s deafening silence on the matter could be interpreted to mean that it truly facilitated Maina’s return to join politics and use part of the alleged loot stolen from the pensions fund to finance his alleged governorship bid in Borno State.
Again, Buhari must prove that his anti-graft stance is fair to everyone by also taking tough punitive action(s) against corrupt officials in his government so as to puncture the insinuation that his fight against corruption only targets the opposition.
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