Ibahim Magu, acting chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says those offering protection
to Abdulrasheed Maina, ex-chairman of Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), have
made it difficult for the agency to arrest him.
Magu, who did not disclose the
identity of the persons allegedly protecting Maina, absolved himself of any
blame in connection to the initial escape of Maina.
In 2013, Maina fled the country
after the EFCC declared him wanted over alleged pension fraud.
The top civil servant returned to
the country under controversial circumstances and was reinstated as a director
in the ministry of interior.
President Muhammadu Buhari
ordered his dismissal and demanded a probe.
Speaking when he featured on
Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television, Magu described Maina’s
reinstatement as “devastating”.
He said the anti-graft agency
would not spare anyone involved in it.
“We would go after everybody who
is involved. I am telling you, we will not spare anybody,” Magu said.
“He has people who are protecting
him and that has made it difficult for us to get him arrested. You can imagine,
he was promoted. It is devastating, it is beyond my understanding.”
When asked if he knew the
whereabouts of Maina, he said: “Of course if I knew why would I be appealing to
Nigerians to give us support.
“We are determined to get to the
root of this matter. That’s why we have renewed the investigation. We will
retrieve all property or whatever must have been stolen from public funds.
“This is something that we have
done as far back as 2011. The matter has been in court, and Maina was also
charged before the court. He was arraigned in absentia. I assure you, we will
get him sooner or later. The national assembly is supporting us. We are
collaborating and we are also giving them support. We have no problem with
national assembly.”
Magu, explaining further said
there are grey areas that need to be tackled appropriately, hence the need for
the renewed investigation.
“There are real grey areas that
need to be tacked properly. All those loopholes and gaps, we will follow it up
and make sure all the people who are involved will face the full wrath of the
law.”
He also said how Maina came back
into the country despite being on EFCC watch list is a case that must be looked
into.
“I really don’t know what
happened. But I know that he has been properly placed on the watch list and he
cannot sneak into this country without the law enforcement agencies. So
something is wrong somewhere. Actually we need to look at that.”
Magu said the support from other
security agencies was not satisfactory, while calling on them and other
Nigerians to give more support to the anti-corruption fight.
“There are some support, synergy,
cooperation from time to time but it is not satisfactory because every security
agency has some responsibilities in the fight against corruption,” he said.
“I want us to be fully committed
in the fight against corruption because the greatest enemy of Nigeria today is
corruption and the corrupt people are now celebrating.
“The way the media and other
Nigerians can help us is to give us information to get Maina arrested.”
Speaking on steps currently taken
by the EFCC to ensure Maina’s re-arrest, he said, “He has already been declared
wanted by the INTERPOL and we are going to visit other countries for
assistance, particularly Dubai, USA and UK.
“We are already on the manhunt,
seriously.”
Magu,you are all liars. Who else has power to protect maina in such a dispensation of General Buhari. may God has mercy on this APC bigotry,i distance my group from this nonsense. How we in 1920? In this 22nd generation. isssssssss
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