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Former chairman of the Presidential Pension Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, has alleged that President Buhari was not only aware of his reinstatement but ordered it.

He claimed his reinstatement started with a meeting with the minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who was ordered by the president to meet with him.

In a video by Channels TV, Maina revealed that the current administration held meetings with him and returned him to the civil service.

He said: “The letter of dismissal, I didn’t even receive a letter. It was when I heard about it (that) my lawyers went to court. They took the Senate to court and the court quashed whatever was the report of the Senate.

“The court also removed all the warrant of arrest. The court upheld that I should return to work. That was in April 2013. But the last administration refused to take me back to my job. They refused to obey the court order.

“The Head of Service was asked not to return me to the office. The Federal Civil Service Commission chairperson at that time did not want me to return to office.

“Now I did not return to office but when this government came in, the president gave his note that go and sit down with Maina, I’ve given you the approval. They sat down with me after the security agencies cleared me of any wrong doing.”

Maina claimed that he has never been sued in any court of law for any allegation.

“Nobody has ever taken me to court in Nigeria. I want Nigerians to know. I have never been taken to any court of law. Nobody has ever sued me for anything. I’ve never been take to any court of law.

“I have sued all the security agencies that we are talking about and I have won. I have full court judgements. They place my name on INTERPOL, I went to court and removed it. They did this, I did this I removed it.

“There is nothing they have not done. Even the one they could not do, they went to immigration, put my name on no fly list. I went to the airport. I was in Nigeria, that was in 2015. I went to the court, the court granted me N2 million damages for not flying that day.”

He went further to narrate the process of his reinstatement.

“As soon as this present government decided to sit with me, and after sitting with, me, I told them I will not leave you to go back to Nigeria without something in your pocket. I’m going to give you something in your pocket and the Minister laughed.
‘The Minister of Justice said what are you going to give us as gift? I gave him a document, I say go here, here, here, there’s N1.3 trillion they are going to steal it because they’ve been stealing every year. He was shocked, he said not possible.

“I said sir, with all due respect, could you please try it, this is a gift I’m giving you. I haven’t gotten to Nigeria, I’m just giving you a gift. I say try it for you to understand where I’m coming from.

“I’m not a saint but I try as much as I can to help the system. The minister thought that won’t be possible, when he got back, he realised I gave him a correct information.
Now, after giving him this information, he asked me, when are you coming back, I said I will soon be back. I said I have a court order.

So, I asked my lawyer to write a petition.

“He now wrote a petition to government and the Minister set up a committee to look at the petition.

They looked at the petition and recommended that this is a court order that there’s no question of going back on it, nobody has appealed it since 2013 so government must obey it.

“So, he sent a letter to the Federal Civil Service Commission to say this is the petition I got in my office, I’m attaching the court order which you must respect.

I’m hearing people are saying he’s directing people to reinstate me. No, he said you must respect the court order, this is the court order because he is the chief officer of the country.

“Now, the document was taken to the Federal Civil Service Commission. I went to the Federal Civil Service Commission, they told me they have just received the documents, they are going to see me later and we have a meeting.

After that meeting, they wrote office of the head of service. They say we want you to sit down with your Senior Staff Committee and after that you send it to the Ministry of Interior; that was used at that time because they were coerced which I later found out.

“The Senior Staff Committee was coerced by the then Head of Service, Mr. Isa Bello Sanni to make sure they send me out and packing because I had stopped the inflow of 5.2 billion monthly to the office of the Head of Service.”

However, Femi Adesina, the special adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, refused to comment on the allegation.

He said: “Anything on that issue, get in touch with the AGF”.

But the AGF did not respond to phone calls, Premium Times reports.

BIG STORY

Lil Smart Files Petition Against Naira Marley, Zinoleesky Over ‘Threat To Life’

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Lil Smart, the Nigerian dancer, has filed a petition against Naira Marley and Zinoleesky over an alleged threat to his life.

On December 9, Smart shared disturbing photos and videos on social media, claiming that his life was at risk.

He warned that Naira Marley and Zinoleesky should be held responsible if anything were to happen to him.

Zinoleesky, however, denied the allegations, accusing Smart of “chasing clout.” He also threatened legal action against the dancer.

In a recent (now deleted) Instagram post, Smart claimed that he had previously endured bullying from the singers but lacked the evidence necessary to take legal action.

He mentioned that he has now officially submitted his petition, with the required evidence, to the authorities and is hopeful that the legal system will provide him justice.

“This has not been the first or third time I have been experiencing this bullying. But I did not have enough evidence to face the law. Now, I thank God that I have very good evidence, and I will put everything I have in line to make sure this bullying and threat to life is stopped,” he said.

“With my evidence, I really hope that they are not too big to be apprehended and face the law. I have submitted my petition, and I have provided my evidence to the authorities. By God’s grace, the law that binds us as citizens of Nigeria will make sure I get the justice I deserve.”

Naira Marley has yet to comment on the allegations.

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BREAKING: Court Grants Yahaya Bello N500m Bail Amid “N110.4bn Fraud” Case

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The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Thursday granted the immediate past Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, bail in the sum of N500 million and three sureties.

The trial judge, Justice MaryAnne Anenih, made the pronouncement after hearing the fresh bail application brought before the court following the court’s refusal to grant Bello bail at the previous sitting.

Bello, alongside two others, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are facing trial on 16 counts brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, concerning criminal breach of trust and money laundering amounting to N110.4 billion.

However, the court granted bail to the second and third defendants in the sum of N300 million with two sureties, along with other conditions.

Outlining the conditions for Bello’s bail, the judge stated that the sureties must be responsible citizens who are landowners in any of the listed areas in Abuja – Maitama, Guzape, Apo, Wuse 2, or Asokoro.

She ordered that the sureties must deposit the documents of the property with the court’s registrar, along with two recent passport photographs.

Justice Anenih also ordered that Bello must deposit two copies of his recent passport photograph, alongside a photocopy of a means of identification, which could either be an International Passport or National Identity card, after presenting the original to the court’s registrar.

She ruled, “The first defendant must not travel without the permission of this court, and he shall remain in the Kuje Correctional Facility until the bail conditions are met.”

Recall that on December 10, the court had rejected Bello’s bail request, citing procedural irregularities in the filing of the application.

Justice Anenih, while delivering the ruling, explained that the application was premature and filed before Bello was present in court or custody.

The court noted that the bail application, dated November 22, 2024, was submitted before Bello’s arraignment, which took place on November 27, 2024, days after he was taken into custody on November 26, 2024.

She said, “Having not been filed when the first defendant was either in custody or before the court, this instant application is incompetent.”

“Consequently, the application, having been filed prematurely, is hereby refused.”

 

More to come…

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BIG STORY

‘N110bn Fraud’: Court To Hear Yahaya Bello’s Fresh Bail Application Today

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A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court will today hear the bail application filed by Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi.

Bello and his co-defendants, Umar Shoaib Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, were arraigned on November 27 before the FCT court on a 16-count charge related to alleged money laundering amounting to N110 billion.

On December 10, Maryann Anenih, the trial judge, adjourned the case to January 29 and 30, and February 25 and 27, after refusing to grant bail to the former governor.

The trial judge declined Bello’s bail request on the grounds that the application was filed prematurely.

Anenih stated that the bail application was submitted before the ex-governor was taken into custody.

The judge emphasized that the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2025 stipulate that bail applications could be tendered once a defendant has been arrested, detained, arraigned, or brought before the court.

Although Bello was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on November 26 and arraigned the following day, his bail application was filed on November 22, four days before his arrest.

Bello’s legal team, led by Joseph Daudu, has filed a new bail application, and the court has agreed to hear the application on December 19.

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