SAN FRANCISCO, November 30, (THEWILL) – The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Magaji Abubakar, has admitted before the House of Representatives’ Adhoc Committee investigating the disappearance, reappearance and reinstatement of embattled former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, that his mistake led to reinstatement of the ex-pension boss.
According to him, the reference letter made to inform the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoS) that Maina resumed duty was a letter sent to the Federal Civil Service Commission.
He, however, added that he didn’t carry out Maina’s reinstatement personally, adding that the head of human resources did and informed him about Maina’s resumption of duty.
The Perm Sec explained he did not effect the reinstatement himself because he was indisposed and directed that a letter be written to the HoS informing her of Maina’s reinstatement.
“It was a week later when the HoS called me to ask for the letter referenced to have come from her that I pleaded with her to allow me get back to the office on Monday to see what actually happened because I was sick by then,” he said.
“But on getting to the office, I realised that the letter to her was wrongly referenced by the officer I directed to write and I immediately wrote a letter of apology to her that the first letter was actually meant for the Service Commission and not the HoS.
“But service is an institution; whatever happened in the process of the minutes, the permanent secretary is the head of the administration and I am here to take responsibility.
“Whatever the Interior Ministry has done wrongly in accordance with the way administrative matter has been done to the end of this matter, I take responsibility because I cannot reject.
“I am the permanent secretary, head of administration and I take responsibility for any administrative wrongdoing that Ministry of Interior has done in the course of this whole process of Maina’s reinstatement.”
Consequently, he apologised to the HoS, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, for the error at the hearing of the Committee, led by Ali Madaki, APC, Kano.
Aside Abubakar and Oyo-Ita; other government officials present were Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris and Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
THEWILL recalls that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami and the Interior Minister, Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau, retd, had earlier appeared before the committee to state what they knew about Maina’s reinstatement.
