Former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari for an opportunity to defend himself over the allegation of graft against him.
Maina made the appeal in an exclusive interview with Channels Television.
His words: “Thank God our President stands for the truth, the unfortunate thing is that some people around him whom he has given trust are lying to him; this one I can attest to and I can give you instances, I can give you documentary evidence.
“I’m appealing to you Mr President, there are so many things people are not telling you; when I get to that public hearing I will tell you some things that nobody ever told you Mr President because I never had the opportunity to sit down with you.”
Maina said given the opportunity, he would defend himself and even recover more funds for the government.
He said he had recovered money for the previous government as well as the current one, stressing that he was ready to do more.
“I recovered money for the last administration and I recovered money for this administration. Most people may not understand this but let me explain this to Nigerians because I want the truth to be told and I want Nigerians to understand the truth and know what is going on in Nigeria…
“Listen, I am not afraid of anybody, I am saying the truth. People portray themselves as if they are saints around the President; it’s a lie, they are not. We recovered as a team, N282billion cash. Aside from the N282 billion, we were able to bring information and caught 43 pension suspects.
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“They have threatened me, they have threatened my lawyer, they have threatened my brother, sister; they have threatened us all that I will be killed.
“Mr President, I will give you information and documents that will fetch you over N3trillion now in Nigeria, give me nine months. Within the first three months, I will show you N1 trillion just like I showed you N1 trillion in this 2017.”
It would be recalled that some top government officials, including the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, have been under fire over the recall of Maina.
Maina was sacked for alleged involvement in financial malpractices as head of the task force on pension reform.
He soon went underground and was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Maina was recalled despite his status as a wanted man.
The situation surrounding his recall became a source of controversy with President Muhammadu Buhari ordering his immediate sack.
