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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