Frank-C:
A very powerful man once said that power is deemed more powerful when sparingly used.

The Senate only have powers to summon and issue arrest warrant, not to convict. If Maina is arrested and dragged to the Senate house today, the question is what next. There are far more intelligent ways to handle certain things. Does it mean that Maina's present office is shielding him from prosecution that he must be sacked before being prosecuted or is sacking the punishment ad[i]-JUDGED[/i] adequate by the senate as the right price for his offense?

The Presidency is very correct, at least on paper. Every right thinking person knows that the civil service is one of the toughest places to sack a confirmed employee, not even a cleaner. This was built in by the same Senate to shield civil servants from political victimization. If Maina is sacked today, he will go to court and will easily win his case unless he is disciplined by the civil service following the established procedure.

I've got no love for Maina but our Senators should stop behaving like the lower house. They are meant to be more mature and less exuberant. First, refer their case to EFCC/ICPC, mount political pressure on these executive agencies to get quick results. These agencies will then charge the man to court and possibly convict him if found guilty. But no!, they want their ego massaged...and immediately!!!

But more importantly is the way the Senate is going about this whole issue. They are being unnecessarily emotional and taking it very personal. They have now opened themselves up to more loopholes. One civil servant- Maina- has held a 109 member Senate captive and they are crying like babies to the President to help them save face by pushing the police and sacking the man as if we are in the military era. Next time they want to use their powers of summon, they should first seek better and more mature ways of handling the issue. Again, power is deemed more powerful when sparingly used.

U r one of the few straight thinking Nigerian I hav seen on nairaland. Dis is d truth n Nofin but d truth

I wish to commend the Senate on her effort to fight corruption. However, the approach of the senators is wrong. There is a process for dismissal of a civil servant just as there is a process for suspension or recall of a senator. The senate should provide available evidence to the EFCC or ICPC for the the prosecution of Maina.

some people don't even know the different between political appointee and civil servant. silva case is a political case and this is a civil service case and the president shouldnt have been involved at all, and i dont think the HOS should wait for directive to deal with the staff under tjhe commission, am begining to fear that one ay tjhe president might be called upon to settle landlord and tenant case

2iic:
The Presidency on Thursday said President Goodluck Jonathan could not sack the Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said Maina is a civil servant and that his fate could only be decided according to the civil service procedure.

Another spokesman for Jonathan, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said the Presidency had referred Maina’s case to the Office of Head of Service of the Federation.

Also on Thursday, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, said Maina was still on the run.

The Senate had on Wednesday gave Jonathan a two-day ultimatum within which to sack the PRTT boss from the Federal Civil Service.

The upper legislative chamber said Jonathan would need to choose between the Senate and Maina, threatening that the legislature had teeth to bite.

“The executive has to choose between the Senate and Maina. He has crucified himself. If Maina remains, then the Senate would react appropriately,” Senate President, David Mark, had said after a debate on a motion entitled, “Dismissal of Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina for refusal to appear before the Senate.”

The debate was sponsored by the Leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), and 107 senators, urging Jonathan to sack Maina from the public service. The Senate has 109 members.

The two-day ultimatum ends on Friday (today).

But Abati said Jonathan did not possess the power to personally discipline civil servants.

He said, “Maina is a civil servant. If he has done something that amounts to a breach of civil service rule, the appropriate office to do the right thing and ensure that due process is followed is the office of the Head of Service of the Federation.”

The presidential spokesman said that Jonathan believed in due process.

“There are laid down procedures for handling situations like this. The President believes in due process. We don’t have to worry ourselves. It is a matter for the civil service to handle. The President does not have to be disciplining civil servants personally,” adding, “Nobody should suggest that the President is backing Maina. It is not an issue for the President.”

Abati however acknowledged that the Senate had constitutional right to summon anybody and the right to declare such a person wanted if he failed to appear before the lawmakers.

He said only the Head of Service of the Federation, Isa Saleh, could take any action on Maina.

Abati said, “The Senate has constitutional power to summon anybody. If such a person fails to appear before them, the lawmakers are also empowered to issue a warrant of arrest against the person.

“The President has not in any way stood in the way of the Senate in inviting Maina. You will recall that the police even declared him wanted.”

Okupe however told journalists in Abuja, “The relationship with the leadership of the Senate and the President of the Senate is such that cannot be tampered with on the altar of favouritism to anybody.

“The President and the Presidency hold the leadership of the Senate in highest esteem and will not do anything to spoil that relationship.

“The issue of Maina has been referred to the head of service.

“Maina is a civil servant and I believe that the matter will be thoroughly investigated and disciplinary action will be effected.”

But the IG explained that the pension task force boss was still on the run and that the police were ready to execute the warrant for his arrest. He called on the public to avail the Police with useful information that could lead to his arrest.

The Senate had on Wednesday summoned Abubakar over his refusal to apprehend Maina.

But the IG, who spoke through the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, in Abuja on Thursday, said the police had yet to arrest Maina because he was in hiding.

Abubakar denied that Maina had police guards.

He said, “If you are conversant with policing tradition, you will understand that the declaration of any person wanted is usually necessitated by a need. In this instance, he (Maina) was declared wanted because he went into hiding and made it difficult for the force to execute a warrant of arrest that was legitimately issued.

“And the Nigeria Police Force remains irrevocably committed to finding him and as soon as we lay our hands on him, we will arrest him and take him before the Senate as has been mandated in that warrant of arrest.”

On allegation that Maina was still having policemen guarding him, the IG said, “Maina has no police officer in his entourage to the best of my knowledge. And again media practitioners are responsible members of the society and even in that declaration and in the press release that we issued declaring Maina a wanted man, we did say that if any citizen that has information that could help us in executing that order, the person should please pass that information to the appropriate authority. So if you have information that could help us in executing this warrant of arrest, we will be glad to receive it from you.”

Meanwhile, civil rights groups on Thursday berated the Presidency in its handling of the controversy surrounding the PRTT boss.

The groups, including the Campaign for Democracy and the Anti-Corruption Coalition of Nigeria, accused the Presidency of shielding the embattled pension task force chairman.

The Executive Secretary of ACCN, Mr. Dino Melaye, said, “It is obvious that the Presidency is shielding Maina. This government is the promoter of corruption and corrupt persons. Obviously Maina did not steal alone; he has police, SSS following him everywhere.

“A sincere government would have sacked or suspend him since. This government is growing from being a weak government to becoming a wicked government. Let us see what the President will do on this.

“It is only thieves without presidential connections who fear the law in Nigeria,” the CD President, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, said in her reaction to the Maina issue. http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-cant-sack-maina-presidency/

Maina was more than Jonathan

Children of HATE will not see this one...

ogmask:
Children of HATE will not see this one...

. Did you read the article? Maina has at then was a civil servant and not a government appointee. The president cannot sack a civil servant because of the civil service rule but can only refer to his dismissal by sending it to the head of civil service which is in the right position to take appropriate measures. We are in a democracy and not military regime.