Garba Shehu, the Senior Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today about the controversial reinstatement of former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina.
He said: “No, no, no. Please, don’t stick this on President Muhammadu Buhari. As we said in that statement (on Maina’s reinstatement), this is a mess we inherited; the Maina Saga – the bribery and the sharing. N24 billion (was what) he took over on the day he took that office. When he left, (there was) one million naira left. So, it happened under the watch of the previous administration and that is why we said, morally, they have no right to accuse us. What is the Buhari government doing? The President has got all the reports, he is going to take a decision, but this issue is a big one. It’s expanding and we welcome investigation by anyone – the Senate, the House of Representatives’.
He continued to say:
‘In fact, the Interpol just put Maina on their wanted list now. A fresh warrant has been issued for his re-arrest. And all of the cases – you know there are a number of ongoing cases in the country which he would have been a part of. Now he is back home, he is going to have his day in court. People just sat down and were receiving cash from that man, knowing full well that it was the police pension that he was sharing. People who ought to investigate him, who ought to send him to trial, beneficiaries of that heist. In the coming days, the President will decide and all of these things will come out’.
