Abuja
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has declared Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina wanted in an alleged case of receiving stolen properties.
The public notice, issued on Wednesday and signed by Dele Oyewale, the commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, carries a photograph of the 61 year old former official and asks anyone with useful information about his whereabouts to come forward.
The notice states that Maina, an indigene of Biu in Borno State, is wanted by the commission. It lists EFCC offices in Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt and Abuja as contact points. Members of the public may also telephone 08093322644, write to [email protected], or report to the nearest police station or other security agencies.
Maina formerly chaired the Pension Reform Task Team. In 2021 a Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him of money laundering offences linked to pension funds and imposed an eight year prison term, with an order to refund hundreds of millions of naira. He was released from custody in February 2025 after serving part of that sentence.
He remains a defendant in a separate case at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Asokoro, Abuja, in which he and another accused person face charges of receiving stolen funds. Court proceedings in that matter have been delayed by his absence. The latest wanted notice does not set out further particulars of the alleged stolen properties or the date of the alleged offence.
The commission has previously declared Maina wanted, including after he failed to attend earlier proceedings. He was arrested in Niger Republic in 2019 and returned to Nigeria to stand trial.
By A.Ikechukwu
