Maina still receiving his salary is the saddest thing you’d read today

Ok, Abdulrasheed Maina, former boss of the pension reform task force who was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari on October 23, 2017 for defrauding pensioners, is still receiving his monthly salary.

What’s better, work files are still being dropped on Maina’s desk as you read this.

You can’t even make this up.

Maina’s lawyer, Mohammed Katu who appeared before the House of Representatives committee investigating Maina’s shameful re-emergence and reinstatement at the federal civil service, told lawmakers that his client has done nothing wrong, which explains why he’s still getting paid by the State.

"Maina had to disappear because there was a serious threat to his life," Katu said.

"Maina is still receiving salaries. 23 files were sent last month in his capacity as acting director (in the ministry of interior), even while he was absent”.

Another report says the 222 properties recovered by Maina while he was pension reform boss, have been re-looted or have developed wings.

“The task force headed by Maina in the course of discharging the mandate recovered about 222 houses investment, portfolio, properties from pension suspects in Abuja and other major cities across the country”, said Senator Emmanuel Paulker who is the chairman of the Senate adhoc committee investigating the disappearance, reemergence and reinstatement of Maina.

Paulker added that: “Maina recovered assets from pension looters working with the EFCC, ICPC, DSS, police and paramilitary agency staff and then EFCC took charge of the recovered assets.

“The total recovered assets seized from alleged pension thieves were reported to have been allegedly shared by some interest group”.

If you’ve read a more disgusting piece of news this week, we’d love to hear it.

We have a serious problem in our country when someone who was accused of defrauding pensioners to the tune of billions of naira back in 2013, found his way back into his old job in 2017 and now has his name on the nation’s payroll in perpetuity.

How many more persons who have been ‘sacked’ from the public service are still receiving salaries? How much has this cost the nation in dollars?

ALSO READ: Full story of the 'pension thief' who served in Buhari's government

It was interesting to watch Head of Service Winifred Oyo-Ita, Interior Minister Abdulrahman Dambazau and Attorney General Abubakar Malami go all red in the face during the hearing before lawmakers.

While they have been deflecting blames or passing the buck over Maina's reinstatement, it would be worth the while asking these public officers why the name ‘Maina’ hasn’t been yanked off the payroll weeks after he was fired and why his desk hasn’t been cleared all this time.

Is anyone planning to reinstate Maina a second time? You can't even put anything past these guys.