The Federal Civil Service Commission on Wednesday approved that the five serving federal civil servants recently charged to court in connection with fraud at the police pension office be suspended.
The officers are Atiku Abubakar Tigo (Permanent Secretary), Ahmed Inuwa Wada (Director), John Yakubu Yusuf (Assistant Director), Veronica Onyegbula (Cashier), and Sani Habila Zira (ICT officer).
This was announced in a statement released by the office of the head of the federation and signed by the deputy director press and public relations, Tope Ajakaiye.
The suspension is to take effect from the 29th of March 2012.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned the officers before the an Abuja High Court on March 29 on a 16 count of conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and diversion of public funds.
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC (EFCC) have reacted to media reports in sections that the Senate had directed the Nigeria Police to probe its former Chairman, Farida Waziri and the incumbent, Ibrahim Lamorde for perceived wrongdoing in the Pension probe.
A section of the media had also reported that the Commission has been directed by the Senate to stop further investigation of pension matters.
In a statement signed by the spokesperson of the anti-graft agency, Wilson Uwujaren, the commission said that these assertions were gross misrepresentation of what transpired at the public hearing of the Senate Joint Committee on Investigations into Pension Administration on Tuesday April 17, 2012.
“The Commission wishes to state that, at no time did the Senate committee or the Senate as a whole order the police to probe the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde and his predecessor, Mrs Farida Waziri. Neither did it request the EFCC to hands off pension matters. Reports to the contrary, may have been promoted by interests to achieve certain nefarious ends,” the statement reads.
The EFCC spokesperson said that Mrs Waziri and Mr Lamorde had appeared at the public hearing on the pension fund probe in response to invitations by the committee.
“For Lamorde, it was his second time. When he first appeared before the Committee some weeks back he was confronted with a document that alleged that he collected estacode to travel to the US for a biometric capturing exercise by the Pension Task Team, a claim which he vehemently denied. The EFCC Chairman stated that he had never travelled abroad on any biometric capturing assignment neither did he receive any estacode from anybody for that purpose.
“Even the head of the Pension Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, who was present on the occasion, confirmed that Lamorde did not travel and did not collect a kobo in estacode. The EFCC Chairman said he was sure that the documents and claims regarding his person were forged.”
Read the complete statement from the EFCC here.
