Abdulrasheed Maina, former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, has accused the Buhari administration of refusing to pay him a $65 billion whistleblower fee.
Maina made the claim on Thursday in Abuja while receiving the Rule of Law and Courage Award from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Garki Branch.
He said he was invited to Abu Dhabi in 2017 to meet senior government officials, including the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
Maina added that he was asked to return to Nigeria to help recover stolen public funds. He said a whistleblower agreement was signed, and that he helped recover $1.3 trillion.
“The terms were clear. I was entitled to five per cent of the recovered $1.3tn, which is $65bn, but to this day it has not been paid,” Maina said.
He said instead of receiving the payment, he was pressured to share the fee. When he refused, he said his family began to face threats.
“I started asking simple questions about 227 recovered properties placed in government custody. Where are they today? Who is managing them? What has Nigeria gained from those properties? Instead of answers, I faced threats,” he said.
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Maina also claimed his son was targeted.
“My son was accused over issues said to be from 2010, when he was only 11 years old—not because of what he did, but because of what his father stands for,” he said.
He added that his son’s car was shot at in 2019.
“At 19, the car he was driving was hit with 57 bullets. He survived. After that, he was detained and brutalised,” Maina said.
Maina urged the current government to reinvestigate Malami.
“Malami should be properly prosecuted and investigated again because he has not been properly investigated,” he said.
NBA Garki Branch Chairman, Anthony Ojo, said Maina was honoured for his courage and dedication to public service.
“We are honouring him for his efforts in pension reforms and all he has done, and continues to do, for the development of the country,” Ojo said.
Maina was also named Patron of the NBA Garki Branch.