By Uche Mbah
The discredited pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina, has been arrested by a combined team of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the Directorate of State services, DSS, in a hotel hideout where he was hiding on his return to the country from Saudi Arabia. Though he is said to be currently interrogated by the DSS, it is expected that he will be handed over to the EFCC for prosecution over embezzled pension funds.
Recall that there has been controversy over the way and manner he managed the alleged N2 billion pension funds for the biometrics of the pension funds.
During his tenure as pension boss, he was able to use bio metrics to track pension fraud, which included the reduction of Police pension from N1.5 billion to N500 million, a situation that did not augur well with the top police hierachy. This, with other pension curtailing, allegedly resulted in his being a target, though the indictment of a N2.1 billion is yet to be proved in court. With the allegation, he was removed by the Jonathan administration but was reinstated through the backdoor by the Buhari regime when it came to power in 2015. He even was alleged to be pasting posters to contest for governorship in his home state
The EFCC declared him wanted but he went to court and got the wanted toga squashed. EFCC , however, appealed the case.
Maina was said to have been caught in his car by the security agencies. He was holed up in his Bullet proof car within the hotel premises until he was forced out.
The Maina case is an example of how the conflict of interests within the presidency have been playing out in the anti corruption war. Even though some powerful members of the ruling class wanted him out, others have been doing so much to get him arrested. Whichever party wins is a matter of conjecture.
