The trial of Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, continued on Thursday with trial judge Abubakar Kutigi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, threatening to revoke his bail over persistent delay tactics.
Mr Maina, a money laundering ex-convict, is standing trial alongside Ann Igwe Olachi on nine counts of receipt of stolen funds to the tune of N738.6 million.
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Mr Kutigi expressed frustration after Mr Maina’s lawyer presented a hospital referral letter in court and sought an adjournment, even though the document did not indicate any illness.
The judge lamented that the case had made no progress in four years due to what he described as the defendant’s “diverse antics” to stall proceedings, noting that Mr Maina last appeared in court four years ago.
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“The antics have stalled proceedings completely,” Mr Kutigi said, warning that he was considering revoking the bail granted to Mr Maina to compel him to yake his trial seriously.
The judge, however, refused the adjournment request, disclosing that he had secured commitment from the defence chambers to proceed with the trial with or without Mr Maina’s presence.
Witness testimony reveals kickback scheme
Following the ruling, prosecution counsel Francis Usani presented the 14th prosecution witness, Gogi Mohammed, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Mr Mohammed told the court that investigations revealed Mr Maina used the office the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation to siphon funds through fictitious contracts, allowances, and biometric enrolment exercises for pensioners.
The witness testified that the investigative team traced Mr Maina’s assets to a relative, Maimuna Usman, who resides in Kaduna.
“We arrested her and executed a search warrant on her residence and discovered titled documents, deed of assignments, certificate of occupancy of over 30 properties, located mostly in Abuja and Kaduna State,” Mr Mohammed said.
He added that Ms Usman disclosed during interrogation that the documents were given to her by Mr Maina.
The witness revealed that some properties were purchased in cash, including a Jabi, Abuja property bought for $2 million, another in Life Camp, Abuja for $1.7 million, and a Kaduna property for N100 million.
Contract inflation scheme
Mr Mohammed further testified about Hamilton Global Services Limited, owned by Osarenkhoe Afe, who was part of the Pension Reform Task Team.
According to the witness, Mr Afe was awarded a contract for biometric enrolment at N63 million but requested extension and additional payment of N136 million, bringing the total to N199 million. However, analysis of Innovative Solution’s account statement showed N224 million was paid for the same contract.
“We invited the owner of the company, Robert Eakazobo. He admitted in the course of the interview that the contract was inflated at the instance of the first defendant,” the witness stated.
The investigator told the court that Mr Afe received a total of N280 million from various sources and gave N250 million in tranches to Mr Maina through post-dated cheques.
The witness identified extra-judicial statements written by both defendants in their own handwriting at the EFCC office—six pages for Mr Maina and three pages for Ms Olachi.
However, both defence teams objected to the admissibility of the statements, claiming they were obtained under duress.
To determine the circumstances under which the statements were made, the court adjourned till February 20 and 26 for a trial-within-trial.
The charges
One of the counts alleged that Mr Maina, on or about 2 July 2010, dishonestly received N155 million from Fredrick Hamilton Global Services Limited through Osarenkhoe Afe, knowing the money was stolen from the federal government under the guise of a contract for biometric enrolment of pensioners.
Count two alleged that Mr Maina and Ms Olachi, between July and December 2011, dishonestly received N153 million from Xangee Technologies Limited, knowing the money was stolen from the Federal Government under the guise of contract for biometric enrolment of pensioners.
Both offences are punishable under Section 317 read in conjunction with Section 316 of the Penal Code Act, the EFCC said.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were arraigned in 2019.
On Tuesday, Emmanuel Nweke, media assistant to Mr Maina, claimed his principal slumped outside his office after losing balance due to an untreated knee injury.
Mr Nweke said Mr Maina hit his head on the staircase before passing out and was rushed to a private hospital in Abuja for urgent medical attention.
Background
Mr Maina was convicted in November 2021 and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for money laundering offences involving over N2 billion in pension funds.
In his judgment, the then-Federal High Court judge Okon Abang observed that Mr Maina treated hapless pensioners with “disdain and levity.”
While underscoring the plight of the pensioners whom the official stole from, Mr Abang said, “Some have suffered and died while waiting for their reward.”
“The facts of this case are sordid, immoral, and morbid,” he noted, adding that “the facts portray the moral decadence in Nigeria.”
Three of his biological siblings—two sisters and one brother—appeared in court as prosecution witnesses to testify against him. His two sisters told the court how Mr Maina fraudulently obtained their details and utility bills to open accounts for his Common Input Property and Investment Ltd, with which he perpetrated the fraud for which he was convicted. The company was also convicted and ordered to be wound up by the court.
The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and sentence in May 2023.
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He was released on February 25, 2025, due to good conduct in prison, according to the correctional service.
Last month, a cross-border investigation by PREMIUM TIMES, the OCCRP, and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) uncovered how Mr Maina amassed properties worth over $1.3 million in the United States and Dubai between 2010 and 2013.
The Nigerian government accused him of siphoning millions of dollars from the pension fund he was meant to safeguard during the same period.
