By Uche Mbah
Finally, Abdulrasheed Maina, Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), has been found guilty of money laundering and stealing charges and sentenced to 61 years imprisonment. The jail terms, however, will run concurrently, reducing it to eight years to be spent in a Correctional facility.
Justice Okon Abang, who handed down the judgement, had last month also sentenced Maina’s Son, Faisal to jail in absentia, asking law enforcement agents to make all efforts to extradite him from the USA and send him to jail.
With this, a chapter in the fight against corruption has ended, unless Maina utilised the appeal window to go to appeal the sentence. As at press time, it was not clear if his lawyers will appeal.
Maina’s journey began under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, when the coordinating Minister for the economy, Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, appointed him to manage the pension fund.
Maina went to work, and developed a computer algorithm that was able to check ghost pensioners in the system, especially in the police force. Reports indicate that he discovered that the pension figures were grossly inflated. But some whistleblowers claim he was enriching himself.
He claimed there were threats to his life, and sought audience with the Presidency to request for a bullet proof car after an attempt was made on his life with suspected assassins spraying his car with bullets.
Pressures mounted on the Presidency for his sack. However, he was on an official mission outside the country when he was finally relieved if his post. He stayed back in voluntary exile.
With the change of regime, Maina was asked back to the country by the new Government of Muhammadu Buhari, reinstated in his former ministry with payment of arrears of his employment.
Within the same period, posters were seen in his home state Bornu bearing his name as a possible Governorship candidate.
Then the hunt began again, and he went underground threatening to spill some information on many highly placed officials. He was later arrested and a case filled against him by the EFCC at an Abuja High Court presided over by Justice Okon Abang.
Justice Okon Abang, the trial Judge, held that Maina cornered over N2 billion from Pensioners, “most of whom have died without reaping the fruits of their labour.”
“I find the defendant (Mr Maina) guilty and convicted in count 2, 6, 9, 3, 7 and 10,” Justice Abang said.
Last month, the court jailed Maina’s son, Faisal, after he was found guilty on all three count charges of money laundering involving N58.1million in public funds.
Maina was arraigned before Mr Abang, on October 25, 2019, with his firm, Common Input Property and Investment Ltd.
He was alleged to have used his firm to launder N2 billion and also buy properties in Abuja.
He had jumped bail twice in the course of the trial.
