President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has said he is not aware if his principal was involved in the reinstatement of former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrashed Maina.
Maina, who was accused of fraud of over N2billion had travelled out of the country, shortly after he was sacked by the immediate past administration.
However, Maina, who recently sneaked back into the country, was reinstated into the civil service under controversial circumstances.
Following Maina’s reinstatement, the Head of Civil Service of the federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, had in a leaked memo, claimed that Buhari was aware of the ex-Pension boss’s recall.
But featuring on The Osasu Show with Osasu Igbinedion, the presidential spokesperson said all those who were mentioned in connection with Maina’s case should be asked of Buhari’s involvement.
Adesina also noted that until Oyo-Ita openly declares that she wrote the memo, it does not stand.
He said, “The head of service to the best of my knowledge has not come out to own that memo allegedly published and credited to her. Until she owns it and say this memo is from me, then I can comment on it.”
Responding to if Buhari ordered the reinstatement as the leaked memo suggests, Adesina said “It is those who did the reinstatement who can answer that question, not me. Those involved and those mentioned- federal civil service, head of service, and attorney general of the federation. I think you should rather pose that question to them.”
On if Maina’s reinstatement tainted the name of the administration, Adesina said: “Yes. But if it was a bad look, was it an error of judgement or a deliberate thing. That is something we should consider.
“If it was not deliberate, errors can be corrected.”
