N14 billion pension fraud:Perm sec, 7 to face trial

Written by Abdulkadir Badsha Mukhtar, Francis Okeke & Ronald Mutum Tuesday, 20 March 2012 05:04

A Federal permanent secretary, four directors, a deputy commissioner of police and two other officials will face prosecution over alleged N14 billion fraud at the end of on-going investigations into the pension scam, Daily Trust gathered yesterday.

Abubakar Kigo, a permanent secretary in the Ministry of Niger Delta; Esias Dangabar; a former director of the Police Pension Office (PPO), deputy commissioner of Police Okafor; Ahmed Wada, a former deputy director of the PPO now a director in the Federal Ministry of Sports; and Abdullahi Umar, now deputy director in the Ministry of Works are currently under investigation over the pension fraud.

 Others are accountant John Yusuf and cashier Vicky, both of the pension office. Until his promotion to the position of permanent secretary, Abubakar Kigo was the director of the PPO and it was during his stint there that he allegedly connived with the others to tamper with the pension funds.

Daily Trust gathered that during investigations security agents raided Kigo’s office, recovering documents and huge sums of money.

The eight suspects were recently arrested and interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Abuja, and were granted administrative bails pending prosecution.

Spokesman for the EFCC Wilson Uwujaren, who refused to confirm the names of those being investigated, told Daily Trust last night that the commission was still carrying on with investigations and would proffer charges against the suspects when it concluded its work.

He explained that the scam involved the use of over 3,000 bank cheques to make illegal withdrawals by staff of the police pension office.

An EFCC source told our reporters that the allegation of misappropriation of N140 million made against the chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, could only be looked into after the Senate probe is concluded.

Mr Toyin Ishola, an Assistant Chief Accountant in the police pension fund office, last week testified before the Senate committee probing the pension scam, saying Maina himself had mismanaged N140 million of the fund.

However, EFCC spokesman Uwujaren said yesterday he was not authorised to speak on the matter involving allegations against Maina.

Currently, the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), the Pension Reform Task Team and a Senate committee are investigating the pension scam.

Yesterday, the Pension Reforms Task Team issued a statement denying the accusations against Maina.

Spokesman for the team, Hassan Salihu, said in the statement: “The spurious allegations of corrupt practices against the Pension Task Force presented as exhibits to the Senate Committee Public Hearing on pensions by one Mr. Toyin Ishola, an Official of the Police Pension Office are false, baseless and lack originality.

“The stage managed presentation of these false documents by Mr. Ishola is meant to stop the patriotic fight against grand lootings of the Police Pension Funds; which has since been stopped by the Pension Task Force.  Thus, the Senate Committee members were misled and deceived.

“The exhibits submitted to Senate Committee by Mr. Ishola are photocopied, cloned and falsified documents riddled with holes of lies. It was maliciously designed to tarnish the reputation of the Pension Task Force.

“Consequently, the Task Force emphatically condemns the further use of these falsified documents for a trial in the public court without verification of facts, its originality or certified as a true copy in the court of law.”

SOURCE: Daily Trust, 20 March 2012. http://dailytrust.com.ng/