By Adesina Soyooye
For his bad behaviour, the former Chairman of the defunct Presidential Task Force On Pension Reforms, Abdulrashid Maina, will remain in Prison custody until the length of time his trial would last. He is no longer entitled to bail.
Maina is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for an alleged fraud to the tune of Two Billion Naira he committed while in office.
But the former pension boss has been a bad defendant. First he escaped from Nigeria to Dubai to avoid arrest. Then he returned on the assumption of office by President Muhammadu Buhari and was, inexplicably, not only restored to office, arreas of paid him, but was promoted. When the unusual situation was revealed, and the Media screamed blue murder, he disappeared again to, allegedly, Dubai.
After many months, Maina was arrested with his son Faisal, by Operatives of the DSS in an Abuja hotel and handed over to the EFCC.
Hauled before a Federal High Court, which Judge is Justice Okon Abang, he was given bail after a number of appearances in court. But for months, he could not meet with the conditions of his bail.
After a review of the conditionalities, based on much pleading, Senator Ali Ndume agreed to stand surety for him, signing a bond to the tune of N500m, and pledging his Asokoro residential house.
But it turned out a big mistake on the part of the kind Ndume.Maina jumped bail, prompting Justice Abang to issue a Bench Warrant on him, and remanding Ndume in prison custody until he either pays the sum of N500m to the FG, or forfeits his Abuja residence. Ndume spent five days in prison custody, and was granted bail by Okon for good behaviour.
Days later, the FG did what it should have done a long time. It enlisted the help of the Niger Republic and the United States to locate Maina. It worked.
On Tuesday, the INTERPOL located him in the Niger Republic, and promptly took him into custody. On Thursday, the Nigeria Police hauled him back to Nigeria.
Appearing before Justice Abang Friday morning, the fugitive from the law was ordered to be slammed into Prison custody until his case is disposed of, justifiably, by Abang.
For Maina, it is pay back time. While Ndume would no longer be involved in his case, his long- suffering lawyer, Adeola Adedipe, has also dumped him.
Maina will be in Court again on the 8th of December with a new Lawyer.
