Garba Shehu fingers Jonathan’s loyalists in Maina’s recall

Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, has described Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, as one of the “monsters created by the government of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan”.

He also said those loyal to Jonathan might have been the “invisible hand” behind his recall.

Jonathan had appointed Maina as head of the pension task force in 2010 but he was dismissed from the civil service after allegations of corruption were levelled against him, in 2013.

His reinstatement under controversial circumstances had brought an embarrassment to the current administration.

Angered by the development, Buhari ordered the immediate disengagement of Maina.

Commenting on the Saga on Wednesday, Shehu said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had no moral right to level any accusations against the current government.

“Some influential officials loyal to the previous government may have been the invisible hand in the latest scandal that saw the return of Maina to the public service, despite being on the EFCC’s wanted list,” he said in a statement.

“Maina is one of the monsters created by the former PDP government, and which are still rearing their ugly heads long after the Party was soundly defeated in the 2015 elections.

“Over and over again, the President Buhari government has pointed out that the administration’s greatest problem is the mess left behind by the previous government. Maina is just one more example.”

He said Buhari was determined to get to the bottom of the matter of the “impunity that led to Maina’s reinstatement”.

Shehu said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is working hard to prosecute PDP members who allegedly got billions from Maina.

“Top officials in the PDP government, from sectoral heads, to those charged with responsibility for law and order received some of these billions of naira from Maina,” she said.

“We have all the transaction records and these are matters that the EFCC has been pursuing to ensure that they all have their day in court.”