Security in and around the Federal High Court, Abuja, was on Friday, October 25, beefed up by operatives of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman, Pension Reform Task Team, is to be arraigned.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Maina’s son, Faisal, is also being arraigned in the same court on a separate but similar charge.
NAN reports that at Court 6, 2nd Floor of the building, where Justice Okon Abang will be adjudicating, it was filled with crowd of lawyers and people. Maina and his son were putting on white caftan with dark blue caps. The case was, however, yet to be mentioned as at the time of filing the report at about 10:30am.
The agency reports that the anti-graft agency is arraigning the former pension task team chairman on a 12-count charge bordering on “money laundering, operating fictitious bank accounts and fraud.”
The development is coming after Folashade Ogunbanjo, a judge, ordered the forfeiture of 23 property linked to him. The judge gave the order following an ex parte motion filed by the EFCC
EFCC’s motion was supported by a 30-paragraph affidavit which it brought pursuant to section 17 of Anti-money Laundering Act. Maina is accused of being involved in pension fraud running into over N100 billion.
The Federal Civil Service Commission dismissed him in 2013 for “absconding from duty” but he returned to the country in 2017 and was reinstated as a director in the interior ministry. Following outrage, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered his dismissal and demanded a probe of his recall.