ABUJA – Alarmed that hitherto recovered loots from pension scammers have been re-looted, the Senate of the Federal Republic yesterday, directed immediate investigations for necessary legislative action.
The Committee headed by Sen. Emmanuel Paulker is to unravel those behind the re-looting spree and it has four weeks within which to conclude the assignment and report back accordingly.
Some of the stollen items included, 222 recovered property comprising of exotic houses and hotels handed over to EFCC by the former chairman of Presidential Task Force on Pensions, Abdulrasheed Maina before his removal as chairman of presidential task force on pensions in 2014.
They were said to have been shared by top notchers in EFCC or interested parties in the society .
The alarm was raised yesterday by Sen. Paulker (Bayelsa Central), Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating the reinstatement and promotion of the former chairman of Presidential Task Force on Pensions, Abdulrasheed Maina.
He told the Senate that his Committee got the information of looted property in an interface with certain government officials connected with the botched reinstatement and promotion of Maina.
To this end, Sen. Paulker requested the Senate to expand the scope of his committee’s investigation in unravelling who and who were involved in the re-looted property.
” For this alarming revelation sir, this committee requests the Senate to expand the scope of its investigation on Maina, by extending it to the management of assets recovered by him and handed over to EFCC before his removal as Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pensions in 2014 and by so doing, extend the duration of the assignment.”
In his remarks, Senate President Bukola Saraki noted that the committee must do everything possible in unraveling those behind the alleged re-looting and report back in four weeks time .
“This is a very serious matter and more of large scale corruption going on in a forbidden place. We just hope that it remains at realm of allegation and not as it is presented”, he stressed.
The Paulker led committee had in the last two weeks met at closed door sessions with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahaman Dambazzau (rtd),Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Mustapha Sulaiman among others on their alleged roles in the aborted reinstatement and promotion of Maina in the Federal Civil service after three years of disappearance from the public space on alleged mismanagement of pension funds.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami has denied involvement in the reinstatement of the former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina.
In an interface yesterday, with the House of Representatives ad-hoc
committee set up to investigate the case, he argued that the letter giving clear directives on the reinstatement of the former chairman, couldn’t have genuinely emanated from his office
The AGF also alleged that there was an existing pension fraud syndicate made up of politicians, legislators, retired civil servants.
According to him, Maina was part of the syndicate and had a fall out with them and now the group is working hard to ensure that their activities are not exposed.
Present at the hearing were: the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau; the Head of Service, Winifred E. Oyo-Ita; and a representative of the Inspector General of Police.
