The Finance
Minister, Kemi Adeosun, and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed
Idris, have denied that the former chairman of the Presidential Pension Reform
Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, was still paid salary years after being sacked.
The duo said
Mr. Maina was last paid in February 2013.
They spoke
on Thursday at a hearing organised by an Ad Hoc Committee of the House of
Representatives to investigate Mr. Maina’s reinstatement.
“From my
findings, the last salary Maina received was in February 2013. From March 2013,
he was removed from payroll,” said Mr. Idris.
“I made a
test run, giving different combinations of his names but found nothing. I don’t
know where he has been getting salaries from.”
Affirming
this, Mrs. Adeosun said several searches were made in the payroll and nothing
was found.
“We do not
have his biometric data. I can state that he is not receiving salary from the
Federal Government,” she said.
She further
said that the Ministry of Finance has no information on the wanted former
minister as he was not a staff of the ministry.
Their claims
contradict a disclosure made by Mr. Maina’s lawyer a week ago at the same
hearing.
Speaking at
the hearing, the lawyer, Mohammed Katu, said Mr. Maina’s salary had not been
stopped as he was still working.
When asked
by lawmakers if Mr. Maina was still getting paid, he said, “Yes. Maina
continued to work even after his dismissal.
“As at last
month, about 23 files were sent to him, in his capacity as acting director…even
while he was absent.”
0 Comments