The embattled Abdulrasheed Maina recently granted Ahmed Isah aka Ordinary President in ‘Berekete’ Radio Program in Abuja, the nation’s Federal Capital where took time to explain how the Task Force on Pension Fund.
The content of the conversation, transcribed by some Nigerians and has been trending in social media, is reproduced here for record purpose:
“I did not take one kobo and nobody has given me one kobo in Nigeria. Nobody has ever given me a budget. Nobody has given our office N10. The office of head of service has always been in charge of our office. Our task force includes 15 officers from EFCC, 15 officers from ICPC, four officers from SSS, two officers from NIA, 15 officers from Head of Service, three officers from Accountant General, three officers from Auditor General’s office, two officers from Attorney General’s office and Public Complaints Commission and Rep from National Association of Nigerian pensioners.
I was only the head. Anything that happened in that office must be endorsed by all these agencies before it is brought to me to endorse. So why is that people are calling my name Maina, Maina; they are not calling that team. The reason is because I refused to bend backwards.
Number one, I want the Nigerian people to know that nobody has ever given me a budget of N10. If there’s anybody in the National Assembly or budget office or the ministry of finance that has ever given me N10, let him produce that N10 and show Nigerian people and say this is the amount of money we appropriated to the team for Maina to handle. Let them show Nigerians.
Instead, I am the one: me and my team who recovered N282 billion and the Minister of Finance put it in Central Bank by Ngozi Okonjo Iweala; she’s alive, and present the emir of Kano was the CBN Governor. I was not a signatory to the account. Former Accountant General and the minister of finance were the signatories to this account. I have not seen this money in cash, I have only seen it in the pages of the newspapers, so how did I come across this money?
If there’s anybody who knows how money entered my hand or how government came and gave me money, let him come and show Nigerians. People are talking in the papers and all this is because of the following:
(1) My team was asked to restructure the police pensions office. We went to the police pension office and found out they were taking N300 million from the account every day and I reported it to the minister of finance and told her there is a certain account where there’s N24 billion for police pension arrears. She said, yes. I told her that that money was not being used to pay police pensioners; that it was being used to remove N300 million daily and these are the people who are removing the money and the matter was referred to the EFCC and the ICPC for investigation.
(2) They were giving police pension N1.5 billion every month as monthly pension and we went and found out that the actual amount was N488 million. That means that they had been stealing that N1 billion every month for so long. Definitely, I have to have enemies. We asked the minister of finance to stop this money from being paid to this people.
This N24 billion from which they have been stealing N300 million everyday I have proof to show Nigerians. I have the check stubs. I have shown Nigerians these stubs when I was on AIT (African Independent Television). Everybody has seen how they have been stealing this money.
We went and did biometric exercise. All the offices that I mentioned took part in the biometric exercise in Nigeria: the EFCC, the ICPC, the SSS, NIA, Accountant General Office , Public complaints commission, Ministry of Finance office, Head of Service office. All these offices took part in the biometric enrolment exercise. Why then is the name Maina being called?
I am not the only person in the team nor do I approve anything for the team. It is only the Head of service and minister of finance who approve money for the team. And they can go and ask minister of finance or head of service if they have approved N1 to Maina. We never had an account or operated an account.
All these people who stole money are the ones giving money to the media people to rubbish my name. They are rubbishing my name because they know if Maina is around, Maina will reveal a lot of things. We blocked leakages in government. We were able to save for the government, billions of naira.
We were able to create an e-pension management system. We said that all these verifications where pensioners are dying should stop. We created the e-pension management system. We gave pensioners e-smart cards where a pensioner will verify himself at his own convenience. Every month the pensioner will go to his local government area and slot in his card in a machine and the system will verify him. There is no need for a pensioner to go and line up and die because of verification.
Also government was going to be paid N4 billion from that. This is police pension I am telling you.
Coming back to the Head of service pension, we came and did biometric. People are saying we went to do biometric abroad. There are no pensioners abroad. In New York alone, we have 360 pensioners; these are former ambassadors and members of the diplomatic community. They are there living in the US. We found out that the Head of Service payroll was N5.12 billion per month but the actual amount was N825 million. So why should Maina go and tell the minister of finance to stop spending N5 billion? That was my crime. That was the big crime I did, because this money is being shared all over.
It was when we were doing all these that the senate found out that there’s money in pensions and there is a team investigating and the team has recovered so much. Those people who stole and are being prosecuted distributed money to the media to spoil my name.
I don’t have the money to buy the media because I don’t have money. And now they are spoiling my name.
Now, when I was coming out from the President’s office, where I went with the minister of finance to discuss these monies that have been paid…when I came out at 9 o’clock my car was shot three times, apparently by some people who wanted to assassinate me. They tried to assassinate me so that they can shut my mouth up.
After they tried to assassinate me, they sent me a text message. Thanks to the car because by then. i had complained to the President of suspicious text messages and movements around my house. He asked the Chief Security officer to give me a bullet proof car for the meantime. I was inside that bullet proof car when they shot the car. It was inside the Aso Villa. Now, because it still has the windows shattered by the bullets. I have the pictures and everybody in Nigeria knew it. The same people sent me a text message the following day that they will come and kill me whether or not they miss this opportunity, unless I stop this work I am doing. If I stop the work they said I am free. I sent this text message to the headquarters of the police and that of the SSS. I got a reply by the Police, signed by the present IGP. it was the IGP who replied me saying: “we have seen your letter about the threat to your life and we are investigating.”
I have a copy of that letter. Nobody has done anything about it but this present IGP tried.
Nobody did anything about it so I had to go under. I had to hide myself because I was going to be killed. If I am killed Nigerians will just say the thief has been killed. Nobody will know the truth.
The senate was saying I refused to come and honour their invitation and they asked for my arrest. So, I took the senate to court. I am a civil servant. I saved the government; so much money and no one has given a budget of one naira and people are saying I stole money. All these things are happening and nobody is helping me. The Head of service is not helping me and I said why should I be a lone soldier so i went to court.
If I come out and testify, half of these people will run away and leave Nigeria that is why I am being persecuted. The former President is alive, the former minister of Finance is alive let them tell us, where is the money Maina recovered?
How can they say there’s no money to pay pensioners. It was during my time we got approval for 53% pension increase. This was the money we recovered. We recovered cash, N282 billion, which the minister of finance deposited in the central bank.
Also because of the information I gave to the security agencies, we were able to recover N1.6 trillion from the pension thieves. The two security agencies did a good job.
The National Assembly is saying that I stole money because the first day i attended hearing, the pension thieves in Kuje (prison) were brought into the senate and were given coffee. They were being treated like Kings, while me and Lamorde (Ibrahim Lamorde, ex EFCC chairman) were being accused. We were in the dock.
I want all the Nigerian pensioners to know that I fought for 53% increase, why are we now talking about 33% and people are saying i should keep quiet? What have I done!?
The police pension they claimed that time was N1.5 billion monthly, but the actual amount was N488 million.
Also they collected N24 billion that they want to pay pensioners arrears. Ask Police pensioners, have they been paid arrears. NO!!!!
Instead, after they collected the N24 billion, they went and opened an account in a bank in Lagos.”
Transcribed by Ata Ikiddeh
