a former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services, Dennis Amacree, says the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission knows where the ex-Chairman of the defunct Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, is.
Amacree said this during an interview on a breakfast television show, Sunrise Daily, on Channels Television on Thursday.
Also, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to arrest and prosecute Maina.
When asked if the EFCC should seek help from sister agencies in finding Maina, Amacree said, “Well, they can do that but I believe strongly that they know where he is. They do but it might be difficult for them to get to him because he has surrounded himself with a bunch of people.”
Amacree said the DSS also possessed intelligence on Maina’s whereabouts but the feud between the acting EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, and the DSS Director General, Lawal Daura, was preventing the two agencies from cooperating.
“The EFCC is looking for him but it was claimed that the DSS was protecting him and so intelligence will not be shared. The break in synergy did not start today. Remember that Magu was supposed to be confirmed by the Senate and he hasn’t been confirmed till now because of a letter from the DSS. So, there is no love lost between them.”
He said there was a general belief that President Muhammadu Buhari was fully aware of Maina’s reinstatement and his whereabouts.
The former DSS assistant director wondered why Buhari would go ahead to reinstate Maina after the Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, warned him against it.
“The HoS said she advised the President not to reinstate Maina. So, let someone come out and tell us the truth,” he added.
Amacree said Maina’s governorship posters were all over the streets of Maiduguri, adding that the intention of those who reinstated him was to make him the next governor of Borno State.
He said, “If you go to Maiduguri you will see his posters everywhere where he says he wants to be governor. I don’t think he came back because he just wanted to be a director in the ministry. I think this was one of the steps he wanted to take before becoming governor.”
The former DSS official said the open argument between the HoS and the President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, at the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday showed that there was disunity within Buhari’s cabinet
“You can see the anger in the HoS. Apparently she feels they are dragging her into something she was not aware of. So, it was her way of expressing that this is wrong.”
When asked to explain how Maina, who is wanted by the EFCC, returned into the country and resumed work at the Ministry of Interior, Amacree said it was due to the lack of cooperation among security agencies.
He said, “That shows you the gap of communication that is right now and I think it is something that must be fixed right away. He is on the EFCC wanted list and they are accusing the DSS of protecting him and it has been back and forth.
“All the fingers are now pointing at the Attorney-General of the Federation but no one is coming out to say anything.”
Afenifere, which frowned on the alleged recalling and promotion of Maina in the federal service, said Maina’s case was an embarrassment
to the anti-corruption fight of the current administration.
The group stated this in the communiqué issued at the end of its monthly meeting held at the residence of its leader, Chief Rueben
Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Tuesday. The communiqué was read by the Publicity Secretary of the organisation, Mr. Yinka
Odumakin.
The Afenifere also warned the Federal Government not to sweep the case under the carpet and must ensure that Maina and other officials of
government that involved in the matter were brought to book.