By Juliana Taiwo Obaleye, Abuja and Chinelo

Obogo, Lagos

Tempers flew yesterday, before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, when Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, had heated exchanges with President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.

It is assumed that the confrontation bordered on Oyo-Ita’s memo to President Buhari on the reinstatement of former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheen Maina, which was leaked to the public.

During the exchanges, which lasted for about 10 minutes, in the presence of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, new Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and ministers, Oyo-Ita was seen gesticulating angrily, as she tried to make her point, in what was obviously a heated argument with Kyari.

In a video taken before the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari for the commencement of the meeting, Osinbajo and Kyari were seen questioning Oyo-Ita, in the presence of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, Governor of Adamawa State, Jibrila Bindow and APC National Chairma, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, among others, who had converged for the swearing-in of SGF Mustapha and launch of the 2018 Armed Forces emblem. 

After the first hot exchanges, Oyo-Ita went back to her seat, only to rise again. She went straight to Osinbajo, who also engaged her in a tête-a-tete.

National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, later joined the conversation, as Mustapha was seen calming Oyo-Ita.  The Head of Service returned to her seat, thereafter, on the prompting of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Femi Ipaye.

After the FEC meeting, Oyo-Ita hurriedly left the Presidential Villa, Abuja without talking to the press. Efforts to get her comments on what transpired inside the council chambers proved abortive, as she neither picked her calls nor replied to an SMS.

However, reacting to the incident, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a television interview last night, said Oyo-Ita and Kyari could have been discussing anything.

Said he: “They could have been discussing a thousand and one things. You cannot get a video of two people talking without sound and then you begin to interpret, then begin to suppose and conjecture what they were discussing. Unless there was an audio recording, which is when you can know for sure what they were discussing.”

On the controversy surrounding Maina’s reinstatement, Adesina said President Buhari’s acted appropriately.

He explained that the president demanded a detailed report on Maina’s reinstatement before making a decision, insisting that he was only following due process.

He said: “What the president asked for was the report of the circumstances that led to Maina’s reinstatement into the public service.  The president does not have to get into the real sense of a probe by setting up a probe panel and all that; he was just asking for a report of the circumstances that led to his recall.  I have not spoken to the president over the issue because you will notice that the president has been very busy in the last couple of days.

What he did, which is the right thing to do, is that he asked for clarification on the issue before he took any action. Before anyone takes any action on these sorts of issues, you have to get clarification.

“A couple of days ago, a timeline of the probe of the former SGF, Babachir Lawal and the DG, NIA, Lawal Oke was illustrated; point after point and deadline after deadline, from the April 19 suspension to the time of the submission of the report and on October 29, there was feedback. So, that tells you that things are moving on well with this administration because Nigerians will definitely get a feedback.”

On the leaked letter allegedly written by the Head of Service, where she reportedly said she warned the president on the implications of reinstating Maina, Adesina said: “The onus lies on the Head of Service to authenticate the memo, which is in the public domain and verify that it came from her, and when she does that, we can take it from there. That is the first point of call.”

President Buhari had ordered Maina’s immediate disengagement, 24 hours after Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, said the ex-pensions reforms panel’s boss was posted to his ministry by Oyo-Ita, in an acting capacity, to fill a vacancy created following the retirement of the director heading the Human Resources Department.

In 2013, Maina was recommended for dismissal by the Federal Civil Service Commission, following a recommendation by the Office of the Head of Service.

In 2012, Maina, earlier drafted by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2010 to sanitise a corrupt pension system, was accused of leading a massive pension fraud scheme amounting to more than N100 billion. Based on allegation of corruption, he was invited by the Senate Joint Committee on Public Service and Establishment and State and Local Government Administration. Thereafter, he fled the country, only to return to his job a few weeks ago.

Having ordered Maina’s immediate sack, President Buhari demanded an explanation from Oyo-Ita,  who, in response, submitted a report.

CAN hits Osinbajo, says  there’s plot to Islamise Nigeria

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja 

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has criticised the recent comments credited to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that claims President Muhammadu Buhari had a secret plan to islamise Nigeria was untrue.

The Christian group said the alleged plan to islamise Nigeria was actually true.   

In a statement, yesterday, CAN President, Rev. Samson Ayokunle, said Osinbajo may have been misinformed to take that position, stressing that the vice president was obviously talking “tongue-in-cheek.” 

The Christian organisation challenged Osinbajo to always confirm his facts before speaking, particularly on fundamental issues that affect the peace and unity of Nigeria. 

Ayokunle, in the statement signed by his media aide, Bayo Oladeji, justified his claims, citing several commitments of the government to the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) and other Islamic organisations. 

He said: “Our worry was that Nigeria is seriously active in international Islamic alliances and organisations, which is in total violation of the constitution. Regrettably, Osinbajo seems not conscious of it and the motive behind the recent adoption of the Sukkuk Bond. 

“Then we ask, is Sukkuk constitutional? Is it not part of the resolutions of OIC and IAO? Is it not part of Nigeria’s adoption of Islamic sharia and financial system that it is mandatory for all African government that subscribed to Islam?.

“We also ask why the present government joined Islamic Military Alliance against terrorism? Are we an Islamic nation to so do? Can’t Nigeria fight terrorism without joining Islamic coalition? Why would the government continue to consciously heat up the polity?

“We are obviously not opposed to Islamic evangelism by any Muslim group, if done with a peaceful motive. The Christians also exercise their constitutional rights to do so through revivals and gospel rallies. But we are opposed to the government of Nigeria adopting Islamic resolutions that are against the constitution.” 

CAN, however, advised Osinbajo to use his good office to correct the imbalance in the Nigerian system and other alleged unconstitutional actions noted with the government in order to reduce tension in the polity.