Maina reinstatement: Plot thickens as Reps summon Kyari, Oyo-Ita

An ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives confirmed on Wednesday that it was set to begin investigations into the circumstances surrounding the reinstatement of the former Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina.

The House had resolved on Tuesday last week to probe the Maina scam following a motion moved by the Chairman, Committee on Interior, Mr. Jagaba Adams-Jagaba.

The Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, named some lawmakers to serve on the panel with Aliyu Madaki as the chairman.

Other members of the panel are Abubakar Danburam-Nuhu, Jagaba Adams-Jagaba, Ayo Omidiran, Solomon Adeolu, Kingsley Chinda, Yunusa Abubakar, Timothy Golu, Kehinde Odeneye and Sergius Ose-Ogun.

Asked to give an update on the probe, Madaki said, “We are doing pre-sitting meetings before we invite them.”

Findings by National Daily on Wednesday indicated that top on the list of persons to be invited by the panel was the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami.

Also to be invited is the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, Maina and other persons involved in the matter.

In its resolution to probe the case, the House had also directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to immediately arrest and prosecute Maina to “serve as a deterrent to others who might have corrupt tendencies.”

The House specifically resolved to investigate the “disappearance, reappearance and subsequent reinstatement/promotion” of Maina after the EFCC had initially been on his trail.

Maina, whose whereabouts are still unknown, has been accused of embezzling pensioners’ funds running into billions of naira and is currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Meanwhile, President Buhari on Wednesday summoned his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, over their clash at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The fierce crossfire between Kyari and Oyo-Ita, which occurred shortly before the Federal Executive Council meeting, was believed to have been caused by the leaked memo, which Oyo-Ita sent to Kyari on the controversial reinstatement and posting of the embattled former chairman of the Pension Reforms Commission, Abdulrasheed Maina.

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Oyo-Ita, it was gathered, also accused Kyari of being the brains behind the leakage.

In the memo, Oyo-Ita had claimed that her warning was based on the implications Maina’s reinstatement would have on the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government.