The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has dragged three staff of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, OHSF, before a Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court for allegedly diverting pension funds into private accounts using various banks and fake identities.

The three accused persons are Abiodun Osagie, his wife Regina Osagie and Oladimeji Bello.

Abiodun is currently with the police service commission while his wife is now with the ministry of petroleum resources. Only Bello is still with the OHSF and was part of the pensions management committee set up after the dissolution of the Abdulrasheed Maina-led Pensions Reform Task Team, PRTT.

Also arraigned is Abiodun’s sister-in-law, Philomena Ayodele, a 42 year old housewife and a pure-water seller who has enjoyed pension for six years even though she has never been an employee of government.

In a statement by the ICPC’s resident consultant, media and events, Folu Olamiti, Abiodun’s sister-in-law was arrested by operatives of the commission on July 19, 2013, at Keystone Bank, Mararaba Branch while she was trying to withdraw her illegal monthly pension.

Olamiti said in her confession, she alleged that Abiodun had approached her and requested for her bank account details in order to enable them pay monthly pensions into her account which was usually shared between the two of them.

During the investigation, the ICPC said its team visited the residence of Osagie and a list containing several names and account numbers in banks was retrieved.

These accounts were opened with fictitious names and had as beneficiaries his wife, his sister-in-law, and other relatives.

Olamiti said the ICPC detectives also discovered that all these accounts had pensions funds credited into them on a monthly basis since 2008 until their arrests in 2013.

The matter will be heard on November 6, 2014.

The task team headed by Maina discovered the pilfering of over N40 billion by civil servants at the pension office of the Head of Service and several of them are being tried in court.

However, from all indications, after the task team was disbanded in controversial circumstances, the new officials of the pension team have started the looting spree again.