….removed from Govt’s Payroll – AGF
By Etuka Sunday
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday, revealed that the Federal Government stopped the payment of salary to the former Chairman of the Pension Task Force Team, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, in March 2013.
The minister made this disclosure in Abuja while appearing before the House of Representatives’ Ad-Hoc Committee Investigating the Disappearance, Re-appearance, Re-instatement and Promotion of Maina.
A statement by the Special Adviser, Media & Communications to the Minister of Finance, Oluyinka Akintunde quoted Adeosun to have told members of the Ad-Hoc Committee that Maina was last paid by the Federal Government in February 2013.
She said, “We used two platforms in the payment of salaries – the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
“We have checked our records and we have no record or evidence from the two platforms that salary was paid to Maina since March 2013. We have no biometric data of Maina and he is not a staff of the Federal Ministry of Finance or its agencies.”
The Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, who appeared before the Ad-Hoc Committee, also reinforced the position of the Minister of Finance that Maina was removed from the Federal Government’s payroll in March 2013.
“From our records, Maina last received salary from the Federal Government in February 2013. From March 2013, Maina was removed from the Government’s payroll. If indeed he was paid as he claimed, he should produce evidence of payment by the Government such as pay slips,” Idris stated.
