The Head of the Federal Civil Service, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, on Monday denied approving the reinstatement of a former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina.
She added that nor is she culpable in Maina’s deployment to the Ministry of the Interior as insinuated by the Minister of the Interior, Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd).
These disclosures are present in a three-paragraph statement released by Oyo-Ita’s Assistant Director, Media Relations, Mohammed Manga.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has been drawn to several media reports that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has approved the reinstatement into the Federal Civil Service of Alhaji Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina and his subsequent posting to the Ministry of Interior.
“The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation wishes to inform the public that the reinstatement and posting of Alhaji Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina never emanated from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
“Consequently, the purported reinstatement and posting by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation is totally erroneous and misleading.”
Maina’s reinstatement, promotion and deployment had raised a whirlwind of reactions and led to some buck-passing on the part of the Ministry of the Interior.
The Ministry had in a statement pointed the finger at the Head of Service as the one who approved the reinstatement.
The statement, absolving the Interior ministry of all blame, said Maina was reinstated in an acting capacity following the retirement of the director in charge of the human resources department.
The statement read, “The ex-chairman of the Presidential Task Force Team on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, was posted a few days ago to the Ministry of Interior by the Office of the Head of Service in an acting capacity to fill a vacancy following the retirement of the director heading the human resources department in the ministry.”
The paragraph absolving it then followed. The ministry said: “For the avoidance of doubt, issues relating to discipline, employment, re-engagement, posting, promotion and retirement of federal civil servants are the responsibility of the Federal Civil Service Commission and the office of the Head of Service of the Federation, of which no minister exercises such powers as erroneously expressed.”
