The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared the former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, wanted over an alleged case of receiving stolen property.
The EFCC made this known in a notice signed by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, and published on Wednesday.
“The public is hereby notified that Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina, whose photograph appears above, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in an alleged case of Receiving Stolen Properties,” the notice stated.
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The commission urged anyone with information about Maina’s whereabouts to contact its offices in Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt or Abuja.
It also provided a telephone number and email address and asked members of the public to contact the nearest police station or other security agencies.
Maina, 61, is an indigene of Biu, Borno State.
Previous Money Laundering Conviction
Maina’s latest encounter with the EFCC comes against the background of a previous money-laundering conviction arising from allegations involving more than N2 billion in pension funds.
In 2017, the EFCC declared Abdulrasheed Maina wanted over allegations of procurement fraud and obtaining money by false pretences.
Despite being declared wanted, Maina returned to Nigeria in 2017 and was reinstated into the federal civil service.
Reports at the time indicated that the Federal Civil Service Commission approved his reinstatement with effect from February 21, 2013, the date of his earlier dismissal.
He was also cleared to sit for a promotion examination for the position of director.
His reinstatement sparked a political controversy, with the Presidency, the Ministry of Interior and other government officials giving different accounts of how the decision was approved.
He was arraigned by the EFCC before the Federal High Court in Abuja in October 2019 alongside his company, Common Input Property and Investment Limited, on a 12-count charge bordering on money laundering.
Maina initially secured bail, but the court later revoked it after he repeatedly failed to appear for trial. In November 2020, Justice Okon Abang issued a warrant for his arrest and ordered that the trial continue in his absence after Maina had left Nigeria.
He was subsequently arrested in Niamey, Niger Republic, in November 2020 and extradited to Nigeria in December that year to face the proceedings.
The Federal High Court eventually convicted Maina on all 12 counts in November 2021 and imposed multiple prison terms, with the sentences to run concurrently, resulting in an effective eight-year term.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of about N2.1 billion traced to Maina and his company and ordered the winding up of Common Input Property and Investment Limited.
Court of Appeal Upholds Conviction
Maina challenged the judgment at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
In May 2023, a three-member panel of the appellate court unanimously upheld his conviction and eight-year sentence.
The Court of Appeal rejected his argument that he had been denied a fair hearing and held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Therefore, the 2021 money-laundering conviction was not overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Released From Prison After Statutory Remission
Although Maina was sentenced to eight years, he did not remain in custody for the full eight calendar years.
The Nigerian Correctional Service said in 2026 that his sentence was calculated from October 25, 2019, the date of his arrest, and that he qualified for statutory remission on account of good conduct and industry in prison.
The service said his earliest release date after the applicable remission was February 25, 2025, when he was released from custody.
His release, therefore, was not the result of the Court of Appeal overturning his conviction. Rather, it followed the correctional service’s application of the sentence commencement date and statutory remission rules.
Separate N738.6 Million? Case Still Pending
Maina’s release also did not bring all criminal proceedings involving him to an end.
He remains a defendant in a separate nine-count criminal case before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, involving allegations of receiving stolen funds totalling N738,612,019.99.
The EFCC is prosecuting Maina alongside Ann Igwe Olachi, who was also arraigned in 2019. The prosecution alleges that the defendants received funds linked to companies involved in contracts for the biometric enrolment of pensioners.
The case has, however, faced prolonged delays. In February 2026, Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the FCT High Court, Asokoro, expressed frustration over repeated adjournments and Maina’s absence from proceedings.
On February 5, the judge threatened to revoke Maina’s bail, saying the delays had prevented the case from making progress. The warning followed an application for adjournment by Maina’s lawyer after a hospital referral was presented to the court.
The judge noted that the document did not indicate any specific illness and said the court was considering revoking the bail to compel Maina to take the trial seriously.
The court subsequently faced another delay on February 20 when Maina’s newly engaged lawyer, Emmanuel Wuyi, sought time to study the case file.
Justice Kutigi questioned the repeated changes of counsel and the filing of applications seeking to halt proceedings while the defence was also indicating readiness to continue with the trial.
Rafiyat Sadiq is a political, justice, and human rights reporter with Pinnacle Daily, known for fearless reporting and impactful storytelling. At Pinnacle Daily, she brings clarity and depth to issues shaping governance, democracy, and the protection of citizens’ rights.