By AbdulRaheem Aodu
Kaduna
The persecution of former chairman of Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, “is the handiwork of a cabal in government which is witch-hunting him because he did not allow them steal pension money,” his family has said.
The family said their son was not a fraudster, but “someone who worked diligently to save pensioners from thieves,” adding that his recent sack by President Muhammadu Buhari was “because Mr. President was misinformed.”
According to the family, Abdulrasheed is in possession of documents and facts that would vindicate him and show the true intention of his persecutors.
Addressing newsmen yesterday in Kaduna, the spokesman of the family, Malam Aliyu Maina, said the marking of the houses they inherited from their father in Kaduna by the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was wrong, adding that they were ready to take legal recourse to protect their fundamental rights.
He said: “Abdulrasheed left Nigeria following threats to his life, only for President Muhammadu Buhari to invite him to come and help his administration. You must have noticed the recent attempt by some cabal to ridicule and tarnish the image of the Maina family in the media where our brother, Abdulrasheed Maina, has been blackmailed as a fraudster.
“The cabals have gone to the extent of marking our house in red paints with an inscription of EFCC under investigation. The EFCC is wrong in their action because Abdulrasheed inherited so many properties from his late father in Kaduna and Abuja; some of them were built before he was born, so how could he have acquired them fraudulently.”
Continuing, he said: “The entire family of Abdullahi Maina is categorically stating that our son is not in any way a fraudster, rather he is a messiah who brought reforms into Nigerian Pension Scheme, whose effort saw the disappearance of pensioners roaming the streets of Abuja and other state capital in Nigeria.
“It is on record that Abdulrasheed Maina’s reform put to a stop the fraudulent withdrawals of huge sums from both the Nigerian Pension Board, the Nigerian Police Pension Board etc. Perhaps it is this noble effort that made him enviable to the present administration when they came into power to convince him to come back and assist in its Change agenda.”
According to the family, the recent actions may have been targeted at not Maina, but high above.
“We are aware that all this act of calumny is not targeted against Abdulrasheed Maina alone, but against the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria and the office of the Attorney-General. We have contacted our lawyers Messrs Mamma Nasir & Co and instructed them to act appropriately.
“We equally know that Abdulrasheed Maina is in possession of many facts that is against the cabal and interesting to the Nigerian populace, which he will disclose very soon.”
