AGF Malami ‘Admits’ Meeting Maina In Dubai

In the face of the indignity surrounding the controversial reinstatement of Abdulrashed Maina into the Federal Civil Service, AGF Abubakar Malami, has reportedly admitted meeting with the sacked ex-pension boss in Dubai.

Malami, according to The Nation, confessed to meeting “wanted” Maina in 2o16 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Advertisement

The Attorney-General and Justice Minister reportedly said this when he appeared on Tuesday before a Senate ad hoc panel probing his involvement in Maina’s contentious recall and promotion.

It would be recalled that the ex-pension boss was in 2015 sacked and declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over a pension fraud running into billions of Naira.

AGF Malami, alongside the Minister and Permanent Secretary in the Interior Ministry reportedly confessed to writing three letters to the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), requesting Maina’s reinstatement.

“The committee discovered that three letters were written by the Justice Minister asking questions from the FCSC on Maina. There is no record that the questions were answered by the FCSC in any correspondence.

Advertisement

“The fourth letter was written by the Attorney-general in January as a directive to the Civil Service Commission to reinstate Maina. In the letter, the AG asked for Maina’s status, his position, rank and next rank.

“There was another letter in February where the AG directed the Civil Service Commission to reinstate Maina. The committee frowned at this because under the constitution, they felt the AG cannot issue that kind of directive,” the Nation quoted a source as saying.

“When committee members asked the AG to react to the allegations that he wrote the letters, the AG agreed that he wrote them, but said he could not remember all that he wrote. He pleaded with the committee to allow him contact his files to ascertain the content. He promised to return tomorrow. The committee agreed.

“The committee was satisfied that the Head of Service (HoS) of the Federation documented everything.

“The Committee observed that she was tidy. It was learnt that at the sitting, the HoS did not release the purported letter written by the Civil Service Commission to Maina. The question the committee will be finding answer to on Thursday is where the Ministry of Interior got the letter it relied upon to reinstate Maina,” the source reportedly said.

Leave a comment

Advertisement