The embattled Chairman of Pension Reforms Task Team, PRTT, Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina, who has been declared fugitive, may resurface today as his N1.5 billion suit against his arrest commences at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Investigations show that the controversial pension chief may emerge out of hiding if Justice Adamu Bello of the Federal High Court, Abuja, grants his prayer quashing the warrant of arrest issued against him by the Senate.
Maina had instituted a N1.5bn lawsuit against the Senate and the Inspector-General of Police, arguing that allowing the police to arrest him based on the warrant issued by the Senate would amount to an infringement on his fundamental human rights, as such would be unconstitutional, illegal, null and void, and violation of the provisions of Section 36 (1) and 6 (6) b of the Constitution.
The case had been adjourned to today by Justice Bello in order to allow the Senate and the Inspector-General of Police to enter their defence and for the applicant to respond.
However, as the outcome of the court verdict is being awaited, Maina released a statement from his secret location accusing the Head of Service of “returning pension funds to the looting era”, alleging that the refusal of the HoS to sign the pension vouchers prepared by the PRTT had stalled the payment of pensioners since November last year.
The statement released by one Olajide Fashikun, identified as a media consultant to Maina, read:
“There is credible and verifiable intelligence that the Federal Civil Service Pension Office is going back to the looting era as pensioners are being denied of their monthly pensions.
“About 98 percent of pensioners have been grossly underpaid and some of them totally denied pensions in the months of November and December 2012 and January 2013.
“In November 2012, the Head of Service Pension Office hijacked the preparation of monthly pension’s payment without the knowledge of PRTT or recourse to its authentic biometric database.”
In his response, the HoS said he will not join issues with Maina as his PRTT had already been dissolved by the Federal Government, his appointment revoked and all the members returned to their respective departments.
A statement released by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr. Tope Ajakaiye, read:
“The Office of the HoS will not join issues with Maina or any member of the dissolved task team on pension payment. Our position on payments for now is that genuine pensioners are being paid from this office since November 2012 and we have told any pensioner with any form of complaints to come to our office for redress.
“The new payment system is in line with the new Federal Government Financial Regulations being operated through the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation known as Government Financial Management Integrated System, GFMIS.”
Maina has already been relieved of his appointment by the Federal Government, following the dissolution of the controversial agency and the return of pension management to the Office of the Head of Service, HoS, of the Federation, OHCSF.
Maina, who had hitherto been portrayed by top government officials to President Goodluck Jonathan as the pension’s funds messiah in Nigeria, is said to be kept at bay presently by the same officials.