N195b pension Fraud: EFCC arrests Maina’s secretary

Abdulrasheed Maina

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has made an important inroad in its effort to trace and bring to justice the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform, Abdulrasheed Maina.
The operatives of the commission said on Thursday that they had arrested the woman, who served as Secretary for Maina during his reign as the chairman of the controversial PPRTT, during which hundreds of millions of pension funds reportedly disappeared from the treasury.

According to an EFCC top source, Ann Igwe, who was a confidant of Maina, was picked up by the operatives of the EFCC in Abuja but no details were given about where and how she was taken.

The anti- graft agency said it was investigating how the biometric contract allegedly awarded to streamline pension administration under Maina actually became a conduit for stealing pension fund.

The anti-graft agency might have decided to swoop on Ann in a bid to get at Maina following the disappearance of the former federal government official from office.
Attempts by the EFCC to track him down for prosecution haves so far proved abortive and many believe that Maina might have fled Nigeria to a country in the United Arab Emirate in the wake of the multimillion pension scam controversy, which forced the Presidency to distance itself from him.

Although he was The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is currently working on charges against him for alleged fraud in the pension sector worth N195 billion, the arrest of Igwe is said to be in relation to a biometric contract, which was used to siphon more pension funds.
It was learnt that the EFCC had already prepared charges against Maina and was ready to press ahead with his case once he is arrested.
A top official of the commission confirmed to Vanguard that Igwe had already made ‘very useful’ statement to the operatives.

The source however confirmed that the charges being preferred on the embattled Maina border on corruption, fraud and theft.
Maina had tried but failed to secure an order of perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from inviting, arresting or prosecuting him.
Justice Adamu Bello refused Maina’s motion exparte dated February 14, 2013, describing it as unethical.

Maina had filed the motion exparte pursuant to the fundamental human right enforcement rules 2009 and section 42 sub 3 of the 1999 constitution, seeking an order of perpetual injunction against the Senate President, Clerk of the Senate, the Senate, the Inspector General of Police and five others, preventing his arrest and prosecution pending the hearing and determination of the substantive motion.

Source: Vanguard