A former Assistant Director of the Department of
State Services, Dennis Amacree, says the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission knows where the ex-chairman of the defunct Presidential Task Force
on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, is.
Amacree said this during an interview on a
breakfast television show, Sunrise Daily, on Channels Television on Thursday.
Also, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation,
Afenifere, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to arrest and prosecute
Maina.
When asked if the EFCC should seek help from
sister agencies in finding Maina, Amacree said, “Well, they can do that but I
believe strongly that they know where he is. They do but it might be difficult
for them to get to him because he has surrounded himself with a bunch of
people.”
Amacree said the DSS also possessed intelligence
on Maina’s whereabouts but the feud between the acting EFCC Chairman, Mr.
Ibrahim Magu, and the DSS Director General, Lawal Daura, was preventing the two
agencies from cooperating.
“The EFCC is looking for him but it was claimed
that the DSS was protecting him and so intelligence will not be shared. The
break in synergy did not start today. Remember that Magu was supposed to be
confirmed by the Senate and he hasn’t been confirmed till now because of a
letter from the DSS. So, there is no love lost between them.”
He said there was a general belief that President
Muhammadu Buhari was fully aware of Maina’s reinstatement and his whereabouts.
The former DSS assistant director wondered why
Buhari would go ahead to reinstate Maina after the Head of Service of the
Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, warned him against it.
“The HoS said she advised the President not to
reinstate Maina. So, let someone come out and tell us the truth,” he added.
Amacree said Maina’s governorship posters were
all over the streets of Maiduguri, adding that the intention of those who
reinstated him was to make him the next governor of Borno State.
He said, “If you go to Maiduguri you will see his
posters everywhere where he says he wants to be governor. I don’t think he came
back because he just wanted to be a director in the ministry. I think this was
one of the steps he wanted to take before becoming governor.”
The former DSS official said the open argument
between the HoS and the President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, at the Federal
Executive Council meeting on Wednesday showed that there was disunity within
Buhari’s cabinet
“You can see the anger in the HoS. Apparently she
feels they are dragging her into something she was not aware of. So, it was her
way of expressing that this is wrong.”
When asked to explain how Maina, who is wanted by
the EFCC, returned into the country and resumed work at the Ministry of
Interior, Amacree said it was due to the lack of cooperation among security
agencies.
He said, “That shows you the gap of communication
that is right now and I think it is something that must be fixed right away. He
is on the EFCC wanted list and they are accusing the DSS of protecting him and
it has been back and forth.
“All the fingers are now pointing at the
Attorney-General of the Federation but no one is coming out to say anything.”
Afenifere, which frowned on the alleged recalling
and promotion of Maina in the federal service, said Maina’s case was an
embarrassment to the anti-corruption fight of the current administration.
The group stated this in the communiqué issued at
the end of its monthly meeting held at the residence of its leader, Chief
Rueben Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Tuesday. The communiqué
was read by the Publicity Secretary of the organisation, Mr. Yinka Odumakin.
The Afenifere also warned the Federal Government
not to sweep the case under the carpet and must ensure that Maina and other
officials of government that involved in the matter were brought to book.
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