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Senate on Tuesday mandated four committees to probe the circumstances leading to the reinstatement of the former chairman, defunct Presidential Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, into the Federal Civil Service.
The joint committees include those on Establishment, Interior, Anti-corruption and Judiciary.
Also, the joint committee is to unravel how the ex-pension boss got promoted after being declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for an alleged embezzlement of N2 billion. The senator representing Bayelsa Central, Emmanuel Paulker, chairs the ad-hoc committee.
This followed a motion sponsored by Isah Misau (APC, Bauchi State) on the need to urgently investigate the misnomer in the Federal Civil Service by identifying all those civil servants and political appointees involved in the matter.
Senate president, Bukola Saraki, who presided over plenary, did not however, give a timeframe within which the committee would submit its report.
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In their separate contributions at plenary, federal lawmakers condemned top government officials in the administration of Muhammadu Buhari involved in the reinstatement of the embattled former chairman.
In 2012, Maina was accused of leading a massive pension fraud scheme amounting to more than N100 billion. He was drafted by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2010 to sanitise a corrupt pension system.
In 2013, the Federal Civil Service Commission following a recommendation by the Office of the Head of Service recommended him for dismissal.
Based on the allegation of corruption, Maina was invited by the Senate Joint Committee on Public Service and Establishment and State and Local Government Administration in the seventh Assembly but failed to turn up.
On Monday, Buhari ordered his immediate disengagement from the service and directed the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, to submit a report on the circumstances surrounding his reinstatement to his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, before the close of work same yesterday.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Interior Minister, Abdulrahman Danbazau, have been fingered in the matter.
