Maina Saga: Secret Police, Head Of Service Make Attempt To Scamper Out Of Buhari’s Anger

The Department of Security Service (DSS) as well as the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ita-Oyo have washed their hands off the controversies surrounding the reinstatement of the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, and his posting to the Interior ministry.
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier, today, Monday, directed that Maina should be sacked even as he asked the Head of Civil Service to investigate the circumstances surrounding his reinstatement and posting to the Interior ministry. The report would have been submitted by now, as directed by the President, to the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.
Reacting to the statement by the minister of Interior, retired General Abdulrahman Dambazau, that Maina was reinstated with the approval of the Head of the Service, Winifred Oyo-Ita said that she did not authorised such action.
In a statement by her Assistant Director, Media Relations, Mohammed Manga, Oyo-Ita insisted that Maina’s restatement and posting did not emanate from her office.
The three-paragraph statement read, “The attention of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has been drawn to several media reports that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has approved the reinstatement into the Federal Civil Service of Alhaji Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina and his subsequent posting to the Ministry of Interior.
“The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) wishes to inform the public that the reinstatement and posting of Alhaji Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina never emanated from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
“Consequently, the purported reinstatement and posting by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation is totally erroneous and misleading.”
Danbazau had said: “for the avoidance of doubt, issues relating to discipline, employment, re-engagement, posting, promotion and retirement of federal civil servants are the responsibility of the Federal Civil Service Commission and the office of the Head of Service of the Federation, of which no minister exercises such powers as erroneously expressed.”
The minister said that Maina was probably posted to the interior ministry because that was his last posting before he was declared wanted by the anti-graft commission for the multi-billion naira pension fund scam.
Also, the Department of Security Service (DSS), which is a secret police, said in an unsigned statement that it had no hand in Maina’s case.
“The Department of State Services(DSS) hereby states categorically that it has no hand in the recall or reinstatement of Mr Abdullahi Abdulrasheed Maina.
“There was no correspondence of any sort between the DSS and the Head of Service with respect to Mr Maina. The DSS is not investigating him nor handling any matter connected to Maina and neither has the DSS ever forwarded any correspondence to Mr President or any arm of government for the recall or reinstatement of Maina.
“The Service is aware that Mr Maina is a civil servant and any disciplinary action as regards Maina’s official conduct will therefore be handled as required by the Civil service rules. So it will therefore be absurd for anybody to imply or insinuate that the DSS has a hand in the recall or reinstatement of Maina.
“Mr Maina had been in the country for quite sometime and it would be absurd for someone who should know to claim ignorance of his being around.”. [myad]