Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday pushed back against “absurd” attempts by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to link him to the unfolding scandal of how a fugitive returned to the country and took a senior position in public service.

Mr. Jonathan said the fact that efforts are being made to link him to the return and reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina underscored how “uncoordinated and rudderless” the Buhari administration has become.

“Are they saying it is President Jonathan that flew him back into Nigeria and promoted him in two levels ahead of where he was as at 2013 when he fled the from civil service?” Mr. Jonathan’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze, told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday night.

“They should stop insulting Nigerians or seeing them as fools,” Mr. Eze said.

Mr. Buhari has come under intense public backlash since last week Friday when PREMIUM TIMES uncovered Mr. Maina’s surreptitious return to civil service.

Mr. Maina was declared wanted by the EFCC on allegations of courting billions in public funds for his own use when he headed the pension reform task force.

The pension funds scandal broke out during Mr. Jonathan’s administration (2010-2015), and the government took disciplinary steps against Mr. Maina by dismissing him from service.

Mr. Maina was an assistant director at the time of his dismissal.