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Tag: Maina

  • Finance ministry denies paying Maina

    Finance ministry denies paying Maina

    Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun said Maina did not receive any salary from the government after his disengagement.

    Mrs. Adeosun told the panel that from the records of the ministry, there was no trace of any payment of salary to Maina after he was disengaged from service in 2013.

    “We have looked very well and we have no biometrics of Maina; so, there is no way he could have received salaries,” Mrs. Adeosun said.

    Accountant-General of the Federation Mr Ahmed Idris, said Maina was last paid in February, 2013.

    According to Idris, from March, he was removed from the payroll, so, I don’t know where he was receiving the salary.

    “If there was any payment of salary to Maina, there should be payslips and an account into which the payments were made; so, let whoever made the claim tender them to support the claim,” Idris said.

    Counsel to Maina, Mr Muhammadu Kuta, had while before the committee on Nov. 23 claimed that his client received salary up to October, 2017.

    According to Kuta, assignments were still being given to him to execute for the Federal Government even as at last month and he was getting his salary.

  • Maina was not on government payroll- Adeosun

    Maina was not on government payroll- Adeosun

    …Maina’s lawyer insists on out of court settlement

     

    The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and the Accountant General of the Federation (AoGF), Ahmed Idris said Maina was not on the payroll of the Federal Government.

    The two said records on the two payment platforms used by the government for its workers have been scrutinised and Maina was found to have been paid last in February 2013.

    “We used two platforms for salaries and no trace of payment to Maina. His last payment was in February 2013.

    “We don’t have his biodata on our payroll anymore and made no payment to him. He is also not a staff on Finance Ministry,” Adeosun said

    The Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigerian Immigration Service ( NIS ), Mohammed Babandede said since Maina was stopped at Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in September 2013, he has not been seen again using Nigerian ports.

    He also disclosed that Maina has dual citizenship with three passports, valid standard Nigerian passport that expires in 2018, United States’ (US) that expires in 2022 and an official passport that has expired.

    He said Maina was placed on NIS stop list which was why he was stopped in 2013 but that in December 2015, the EFCC directed he be removed from stop list.

    “According to official documents he has not been travelling since 2013,” he said.

    Acting Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Idris Magu denied the letter vacating the stop order, saying he has never seen it in his life, just as he has never met Maina before.

    He said the source of the letter will be investigated because he assumed office in November 2015 while the stop order vacation letter was written in December same year.

    He told the Committee that investigation of pension began in 2010 but that his Commission had no collaboration with the Maina’s team, except for a biometric exercise.

    “He did not hand over a single recovered asset to EFCC, and if there is no asset he handed over to, how could there be assets to share?

    He said: “I challenge him or anyone to prove that we shared recovered assets. Those claiming such should come forward to prove it.

    “All recovered assets at EFCC are products of our independent investigations and they were Police pension and HoCSF.

    “From Police pension eight people and associated companies were investigation while HoSC has five and associated companies investigated.

    “All assets recovered from HoCSF on interim forfeiture have been handed over while some are used as offices.

    “It is only the asset of one Yusuf that has been convicted that’s been permanently forfeited and they are 32 in number.

    “All proceeds on the forfeited assets as rents are duly documented

    “Maina’s assets that we recovered were seven in Kaduna, five in Abuja- two in Kado, two in Life camp and a sprawling one in Jabi”.

    He said EFCC is investigating four companies used by Maina with six bank accounts that have N2.7b from 2008 to 2013.

    According to him, one of Maina’s son account that has
    N1.5b turnover within a year was also uncovered.

    He said Maina used cash converted to forex exchange for transactions most of the time, adding that he paid $2m cash for the Jabi house.

    He said having declared Maina wanted, the Interpol has been alerted for his arrest.

    The Director General ( DG ) of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mamman Daura said he was notified of the Dubai meeting between Maina and the AGF with the National Security Adviser’s (NSA) , Babagana Monguno in attendance.

    He however heaped the blame of the Maina saga on lack of interagency collaboration and information sharing.

    However, when Chairman of the Committee was set to round up the hearing, Maina’s lawyer, Sani Katu protested that he has been denied fair hearing.

    “We must be heard, that is what they did to us in the Senate, they boxed us into a corner, we must be heard,” he shouted.

    Madaki said no one would be denied to speak, saying the Committee would not allow rented crowd to disrupt it’s activities.

    Katu then reiterated the fact that Miana was reinstated by the Court judgement that vacated his arrest order, that the status quo should remain.

    He insisted that Maina is still on the payroll of the government going by the court pronouncement and should be be paid his emoluments.

    He said Maina should not have been dismissed from service going by the pronouncement of the court

    He also said out of court settlement was reached by the two parties where it was agreed that Maina would be reinstated while he will drop the N2.1b claim he asked for in the suit.

    He said:”The Court reinstated him which means he should revert to his status and his emoluments paid to him

    “There is a judgment from the Federal High Court that sets aside the Warrant of Arrest, that sets aside the warrant of arrest which led to his query and subsequent dismissal.

    “So our position that having set aside all those queries and dismissal, it means Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina should revert back to his earlier status and what is that earlier status?

    “The status is that, before he was dismissed, he was a civil servant and being a civil servant, the question can as well be raised if he is entitled to salary and the answer is yes, that as a federal civil servant, he entitled to his salary.

    “At one point, efforts were made to calculate his salaries from March 2013 till date, perhaps if not for what has happened now, they would have paid him salary in October.

    “So, we are talking on the premise of the dictates of the law and the law is made up facts and the facts are contained in the judgement of the Federal High Court,” he said.

    While adjourning the hearing indefinitely (sine die), Madaki warned that it was the duty of the House to prevent impunity in government.

  • Maina and the rest of us

    SIR: On September 8, most newspapers reported the arrest by the Plateau Police Command of a suspected ritual killer, Ifeanyi Dike, who escaped from detention at the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The whole nation lambasted the police over its careless handling of the suspect in their custody. Nigerians should be applauded for the consistent outcry which eventually led to the re-arrest of the suspected criminal.

    Now, fast forward to the scandal involving the former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina. Although Maina has since been fired by the Presidency when the shocking news hit the airwaves, the mystery of how the fugitive who was alleged to have dipped his hand to the public coffers to the tune of N2billion and had been disengaged from the public service only to find his way back and was even elevated to directorate cadre, remains.

    Compare the scenario: when Ifeanyi Dike escaped from detention, the Presidency was alerted and woke up to its responsibilities. Contrast with Maina’s case – a man that was on EFCC wanted list getting a directorship appointment courtesy of a letter from another arm of the Presidency!

    I am not surprised about this! Nigeria’s problem is systemic; and until we deal with the problem headlong, the symptoms will remain. It is a challenge for this administration which has consistently vowed to tackle corruption in every area.

    Maina’s matter should not be swept under the carpet like similar cases in the past.  If this happens, it will be a sign that our national security is standing on one leg. All agencies under the Presidency have a case to answer.  Maina, in a telephone conversation, had claimed that he did not steal money from anyone or organisation, the question then is “why is he on the run?”

    If I were in the President’s shoes, I will go hard on everyone who has compromised in the matter.  It bears restating that Nigeria has a structural and systemic problem; it explains why the rich will always evade justice because the institutions that will make them accountable are weak. Some of these ‘fantastically rich’ individuals use their ill-gotten wealth to employ the service of the best lawyers, police, and customs, among others.

    The anti-corruption war that gathered so much momentum at the beginning of this administration appears to be slowing down.  The EFCC has since introduced another drama to the Maina show when its officials started sealing the houses he allegedly owned. Or could it be that Maina shipped in those houses on his return and under the cover of night?

     

    • Ajakaiye Olanrewaju,

    Omu-Aran, Kwara State.

  • Senate orders probe of alleged sharing of 222 mansions recovered by Maina

    Senate orders probe of alleged sharing of 222 mansions recovered by Maina

    The Senate on thursday mandated its ad-hoc committee investigating the reappearance and reinstatement of a former Chairman, Presidential Taskforce Team on Pension Reform, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina to probe alleged sharing of 222 mansions recovered by Maina by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) top operatives.

    The mandate followed the alarm raised by Chairman of the investigative panel, Senator Emmanuel Paulker, over alleged “re-looting of choice properties recovered by Maina by EFCC officials.”

    Paulker who came under a Point of Order told the Senate that information reaching his committee in the course of its investigation, showed that about 222 recovered properties comprising of exotic houses and hotels handed over to the EFCC by Maina before his removal as chairman of Taskforce Team in 2014, have been shared by top EFCC operatives and other persons of influence in the EFCC.

    The panel chairman said that his committee got wind of the fraudulent sharing of the recovered properties from submissions made to that effect by some of the invited government officials connected with the reinstatement and promotion of Maina.”

    Paulker prayed the Senate to expand the scope of his committee’s investigation to include tracing those involved in sharing the recovered properties and assets.

    He said, “For this alarming revelation sir, this committee requests the Senate to expand the scope of its investigation on Maina by extending it to the management of assets recovered by him and handed over to EFCC before his removal as Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pensions in 2014 and by so doing, extend the duration of the assignment .”

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, put the request to a voice vote and it was unanimously carried.

    Saraki in his remarks noted that the committee must do everything possible to unravel those behind the alleged re-looting of the properties and report back in four weeks.

    He said, “This is a very serious matter and more of large scale corruption going on in a forbidden place. We just hope that it remains at the realm of allegation and not as it is presented.”

    Read Also:  Senate seeks new security design to end killings

  • Reps Begin Probe of Maina’s disappearance, appearance re-instatement

    Reps Begin Probe of Maina’s disappearance, appearance re-instatement

    Hearing on Abdulrasheed Maina’s Disappearance, Appearance re-instatement and Promotion commences with the testimony of the Head of Service, Mrs. Winifred Oyo- Ita who is speaking under oath.

    Present at the hearing are: the Minister of Interior Abdulraman Dambazzau, Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Joseph Akande, the Attorney- General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, the Solicitor General of the Federation, Dayo Apata, DIG Valentine ( Rep IG Ibrahim Idris and Maina’s Counsel Mohammed Kato

    The investigation by the ad hoc committee, headed by Hon. Alyu Madaki ( APC Kano) is meant to last for two days.

    The Head of Service and the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Joseph Akande have given their own testimony under oath. Presently testifying is the Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazzau,

    Details later..

    Read Also: Pension ‘thieves’ framing me – Maina

  • Nigerian Government owing Maina N159BN, says, ‘let’s meet at open panel’ – Maina’s Lawyer

    The latest has not been heard on the controversy surrounding the ongoing ‘war’ between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and former PPRT chairman, Abdurasheed Maina.

    Maina in a latest revelation through his lawyer, Barr Sani Katu claimed that the federal government is owing him over N159BN, as against the N2.1bn he is being accused of siphoning while in office.

    The embattled ex-PRTT boss challenged the anti-graft agency to meet at an open panel of investigation where he would spew out all the unknowns to Nigerians.

    “In 2011 we stopped the stealing of N300m daily from police pension. Also, in 2011, we stopped the stealing if N1.04bn monthly from police pension allocations

    “Same 2011, we were able to stopped the yearly stealing of N52.5bn which has been an annual ritual at the head of service pension

    “It would interest you to know that between 2011 and 2012 the PRTT recovered cash and asset worth N1.63trn which has been with the EFCC.

    It may be recalled that some pensioners petitioned the National Assembly to ensure that EFCC produce these recoveries so that Nigerians would know.

    These recoveries belong to Nigerians and thus the need to know the whereabout of these monies and properties. The Pensioners urged EFCC in their Petition to stop diverting the attention of Nigerians from the N1.63Tr towards an imaginary and concocted N2.1bn fraud, that EFCC pension Fraud unit created using coercion to hide the monies some of them stole and the result is that conviction of the 43 alleged notorious pension cartel WHICH MAY NEVER BE POSSIBLE.

    “Similarly, between 2016 and June 2017, Maina, released the intelligence and tip-offs that stopped the annual stealing of N1.3trn. (This has been confirmed by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Federation).

    Also between February 2017 to October 2017, He also recovered N152bn, N60bn, and other sensitive materials. These achievements goes to further the importance of Maina to this Country. It means the Government acted in public interest by obeying Court order which brought Maina to office.

    “It could be recalled that Maina was shot at and dismissed by the pension cabal, The 7th Senate asked for his head, He approached the high court and got judgement and is now being accused of N2.1bn which is not even a .000001% of what Maina is supposed to be paid by Government. ARE WE ACTUALLY FIGHTING CORRUPTION OR PLAYING CARTEL GAMES, he retorted.

    “Now let’s total what Maina recovered, then apply the whistle blower 5%, and get the total to be paid to Mains, then subtract N2.1 bn which even though is a complete fabrication by the EFCC, then pay him the balance of N —–

    Speaking further, he said, “Nigerians are not stupid and cannot be deceived. They want to take our attention away from all these recoveries because they have repeatedly failed to account for them. Our attention cannot be diverted away from about N4tr to a mere N2.1Bn which is an insignificant percentage the N2.1bn, which is less of all the recoveries.

    “Let’s meet at an open panel of investigation if the EFCC is truly straightforward.” We urge the Government to appoint an independent panel of investigation and see who will run out of Nigeria

  • Many sides of Maina

    Many sides of Maina

    Abdulrasheed Maina popped up about seven years ago when senior citizens needed him most. Those were days when gaunt, weak and shrivelled figures of pensioners were making their way to verification centres. Their story was common, a staple of the media in those days. Many of them died in penury and agony, many too sickly and weak to present themselves for verification. Some rode on wheelchairs or on the backs of their children or grandchildren or benevolent neighbours.

    In a country where tragedy often strikes and deadens people’s sense of horror, many still managed to be horrified by the plight of retirees. Not merely because of the manifest challenges they face on their way to the verification queues but also because government officials whose business it was to manage pension funds and save the pensioners hassles were the ones helping themselves to the cash trove. It was reported in those days that fake names were often on the pension books, and that public figures who had access to pension cash often did everything imaginable and unimaginable to defraud the retirees.

    It was in those odious days that Mr Maina showed up charged with the task of cleaning up the rotten pension system. Then president Goodluck Jonathan set up a task force on pension reform with Mr Maina as its chair. And, boy, what did the Borno State-born civil servant find? It took him only a few peeks into the system to see how billions of naira was ending up in the pockets of unscrupulous individuals.

    Mr Maina was an instant hit, and could have won any election in Borno or Abuja. He was a champion, a crime buster and problem solver. That was his best side.

    Other versions soon became visible. For no sooner had he discovered the leaky taps and leeches of the pension system than it was alleged that Mr Maina himself had creamed off a sizable chunk of what he dug up. A stir in Dr Jonathan’s government attracted the police and senate’s attention, and Mr Maina became a puzzle, a mystery, a subject of investigation. He disappeared into the proverbial thin air, supposedly chased by both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and international police, as reports had it that he was actually living large in some choice destinations far beyond the borders. That was the fugitive.

    But there are other Mainas, such as the returnee, the reinstated, the promoted and the glorified.

    Returning to the country, Mr Maina was given a hero’s welcome, moved two steps up the civil service ladder and crowned with a director’s office in the ministry of interior.

    Everything about Mr Maina attracted attention, and so did his return and reinstatement, only that this time it was disgust and outcry that trailed him. The questions were many. Who facilitated the fugitive’s return? And why? Why was he reinstated and promoted, and by whom? Whither the integrity and anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari?

    The stench of the Maina saga was more than President Buhari could stand, so he ordered his sack and a quick investigation of the matter.

    Mr Maina has fled, again, but not before he said he had dirt on a large number of highly-placed individuals who shared the loot. His family has rallied to his defence, saying he is actually a miracle worker, not a thief. The family has also said the Buhari administration brought him back to help in the anti-graft fight.

    The presidency has not responded to Mr Maina’s family’s claim as vigorously and convincingly as it should. That may not be admission of guilt, yet, after all, Mr President is not known for speaking up or acting promptly even in the face of serious and unfavorable public perceptions. It took him an uncomfortably long time to relieve Babachir Lawal and Ayodele Oke of their positions, after the one, secretary to the government of the federation at the time, was accused of some dirty contract deals, and the other, a spy chief, could not come up with a cogent explanation for a dizzying pile of cash found in a Lagos apartment.

    President Buhari has ordered Mr Maina’s immediate sack but he has to do more than that. It is plausible that some members of his cabinet could plot and execute certain acts without the president’s knowledge or approval. But Mr Maina’s reinstatement and promotion should not be one of those acts. Why? It hurts everyone, but it hurts the president and his administration the more. In the thick of the Maina saga, some reports said a minister in President Buhari’s government tried to knock the EFCC off Maina’s trail.

    This is not a matter the president should hope time will sort out eventually. He must quickly determine the culpability or otherwise of his lieutenants in the matter and act appropriately. In the case of guilt, a slap on the wrist will not do. Everything depends on it. The senior citizens will hope that justice is served. People who believe that the years of rot under the unprincipled PDP government should end with the enthronement of the APC will be happy to see the guilty get their comeuppance. So will those who, in 2015, voted integrity rather than perpetuation of recklessness.

    Not doing more than just sacking Mr Maina can potentially pull down, brick by brick, the sturdy structure President Buhari laboured to build over the years. And should that happen, Mr Maina would have shown his most devastating side yet, that of the undertaker, the vanquisher.

  • Maina’s recall: Nothing ’ll be swept under carpet, says Senate panel

    Maina’s recall: Nothing ’ll be swept under carpet, says Senate panel

    •Committee to submit report next month

    The Senate ad-hoc panel investigating the surreptitious recall of former Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform Abdulrasheed Maina yesterday vowed not to sweep anything under the carpet in its quest to expose those behind the matter.

    The committee said its report would be submitted to the Senate in plenary for consideration in December.

    Chairman of the panel Senator Emmanuel Paulker stated this while briefing reporters after a closed door session with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami.

    The meeting was held in his office apparently to keep the discussion of the panel secret.

    Senator Paulker said the committee resolved to conduct the investigation behind closed door because the committee wanted to do thorough probe of the issue assigned to it.

    The Bayelsa Central lawmaker said the investigative hearing was shifted to his office on account of his personal discretion.

    He said: “It is at my discretion to hold the meeting in my office.  All the four chairmen of the committee were present.  We don’t want a situation whereby media report will dictate section of our report.  The closed door session will allow us to do thorough investigation on the matter.”

    Paulker added: “Nothing will be swept under the carpet. The truth of matter will come out at the end of our investigation and the report will be submitted before Christmas.”

    The meeting yesterday will be the second time this week that Malami will appear before the panel.

    It is also expected that the AGF will appear before the committee next week.

    When the AGF appeared on Tuesday, The Nation exclusively reported that Malami admitted that he met with Maina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year.

  • Malami tells Senate panel: I met with Maina in Dubai

    Malami tells Senate panel: I met with Maina in Dubai

    Justice minister admits writing commission

    ‘Maina ran account through sms, e-mail’

    A clearer picture of  Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami’s role in the reinstatement of fugitive civil servant Abdulrasheed Maina emerged yesterday.

    The minister admitted before a Senate ad hoc panel probing Maina’s reinstatement into the civil service and promotion to acting director that he met with Maina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)  last year.

    He also said he wrote letters to the Federal Civil Service Commission (FRSC) on the sacked chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team.

    Maina was in 2015 accused of over N2billion pension fraud and declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The EFCC enlisted the International Police (INTERPOL) to trace Maina.

    But he dramatically showed up in the country and was last month reinstated as acting director in the Ministry of Interior.

    An embarrassed President Muhammadu Buhari ordered Maina’s immediate sack and a probe of how he was brought back. The EFCC stepped up its investigation. But Maina has not been seen since then.

    The Senate panel is conducting its probe in camera with a promise to brief reporters at the end of its investigation.

    But a source told The Nation last night that Malami, Interior Minister Abdulrahman Danbazau and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior appeared before the committee.

    The Interior minister and the permanent secretary insisted that they played no role in Maina’s recall that the attorney general admitted writing three letters to the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) on Maina. But he said he did not bring him back.

    Senators reportedly asked the minister questions ranging from the authenticity of the correspondence between him and the FCSC, the constitutionality of his alleged directives to the commission and the extent of his involvement in the reinstatement of the controversial civil servant.

    Another source close to the committee said: “Malami agreed before the parliamentary panel that he held a meeting with Maina in Dubai, although he insisted that he was not responsible for his dramatic return to the service. “

    The source added: “The committee discovered that three letters were written by the Justice Minister asking questions from the FCSC on Maina. There is no record that the questions were answered by the FCSC in any correspondence.

    “The fourth letter was written by the Attorney-general in January as a directive to the Civil Service Commission to reinstate Maina. In the letter, the AG asked for Maina’s status, his position, rank and next rank.

    “There was another letter in February where the AG directed the Civil Service Commission to reinstate Maina. The committee frowned at this because under the constitution, they felt the AG cannot issue that kind of directive.”

    According to the source, the AG wrote another letter in April asking whether the reinstatement had been effected. In that letter, he directed the FCSC to promote Maina to Director.

    The source added: “When committee members asked the AG to react to the allegations that he wrote the letters, the AG agreed that he wrote them, but said he could not remember all that he wrote. He pleaded with the committee to allow him contact his files to ascertain the content. He promised to return tomorrow. The committee agreed.

    The source added: “The committee was satisfied that the Head of Service (HoS) of the Federation documented everything.

    “The Committee observed that she was tidy. It was learnt that at the sitting, the HoS did not release the purported letter written by the Civil Service Commission to Maina. The question the committee will be finding answer to on Thursday is where the Ministry of Interior got the letter it relied upon to reinstate Maina”.

     

  • Maina ran bank account through sms, email, EFCC tells court

    Maina ran bank account through sms, email, EFCC tells court

    A Federal High Court in Abuja heard yesterday how huge sums belonging to pensioners were allegedly diverted by former Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF) Stephen Oronsaye and former Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed  Maina through phoney contracts.

    Maina the court was told ran a bank account using sms and sending electronic mails.

    An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Rouqayya Ibrahim ,said pension funds were allegedly diverted by the duo through various companies.

    Rouqayya spoke yesterday while testifying as a prosecution witness in the trial of Oronsaye, the Managing Director of Fredrick Hamilton Global Services Limited, Osarenkhoe Afe and the company on a 24-count charge bordering on stealing and obtaining money by false pretence.

    They are alleged to have been involved in contract awards during Oronsaye’s tenure as HoSF.

    The prosecution alleged that the fraud, involving about N2 billion, was allegedly perpetrated using firms like Cluster Logistic Limited, Kongolo Dynamic Cleaning Limited, Drew Investment and Construction Company Limited, and Xangee Technologies Limited.

    Led in evidence by lead prosecution lawyer Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Rouqayya said in the course of investigation, the EFCC requested for payment mandate from the office of the Head of Service (HOS).

    She said: “We analysed the mandate, obtained necessary information like bank account numbers, and then requested for the account statements from the banks,” she said.

    She stated that the analysis revealed a company, Xangee Technologies Limited, which she noted, was already being tried before Justice Abubakar Talba of the High Court of thr Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Gudu, for alleged pension fraud.

    The witness said: “We discovered that the company received payment of more than N183 million for biometric enrolment, but there was no biometric contract executed by the company, instead the money was withdrawn cash, converted to US dollars and handed over to Abdulrasheed Maina, through his brother, Khalid Biu.”

    She added that three other companies – Mofshad Ventures, Mofshad Limited and Kombosko Nigeria Limited— received more than N400 million for non-existent contracts.

    The witness said: “We discovered that the three companies were associated with one Emmanuel Olanipekun, who is also currently standing trial, and one Chidi, also standing trial, and the monies were withdrawn in cash with part of it given to Mr. Oronsaye.”

    She said investigation of the pension account in Union Bank showed that there was a letter, instructing that the money be transferred to another pension account.

    “We saw another letter on it, on which there was a minute and instruction from Mr. Oronsaye, to transfer about N113 million to a Unity Bank account belonging to the State House, which we discovered he was the sole-signatory.

    “As at the time the transfer was made in 2010, Mr. Oronsaye had ceased to be the Principal Secretary in the State House and had become the Head of Service. We discovered that the monies were withdrawn through cheques, but all efforts to get the person to whom they were issued to, was unsuccessful, and Mr. Oronsaye could not explain the reason for the disbursement,” the witness said.

    She said: “There was also another account in the name of Abdulrasheed Maina, and his brother, Biu, an employee of the bank, who opened the accounts and was the account officer.”

    She added that  after Biu resigned from the bank, another employee, Toyin Meseke, took over as the account officer.

    The witness said: “We invited him for an interview and discovered that all the accounts were operated by Abdulrasheed Maina, even though his name, picture and signature were not anywhere in the opening account packages.”

    She said Maina operated the account mainly through text messages and emails, as “instructions regarding payment or withdrawal were sent to Meseke by text or email”.

    Rouqayya said forensic analysis of Meseke’s phone was carried out, which revealed how funds were fraudulently diverted from the account. She added: ”The account officer will, after receiving instruction from Maina, convert the money to US dollars and deliver same to him in Dubai.”

    According to her, Maina, a former Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, remained at large.  She said Maina never showed up in the course of investigations, and deserted his known residence.

    Earlier, Jacobs tendered three statements made to EFCC’s investigators by Oronsaye, during the course of investigations. The statements were identified by Ibrahim and admitted in evidence by the court when defence lawyers, Joe Agi (for Oronsaye) and Oluwole Aladedoye (for Afe and his company) failed to object.

    Justice Kolawole adjourned till December 5,  for continuation of the judicial trial.