Precious Nwonu, Enugu
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has again declared the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, wanted over an alleged case of receiving stolen property.
The anti-graft agency announced this in a public notice issued on Wednesday, accompanied by a photograph of the former pension reform official.
The EFCC identified Maina, 61, as an indigene of Biu, Borno State, and urged members of the public with information about his whereabouts to contact the commission or other security agencies.
The notice read, “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 commission listed its offices in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Gombe and Port Harcourt as locations where information could be submitted.
The EFCC also provided a telephone line and official email address for members of the public wishing to pass on information concerning Maina’s whereabouts.
This is not the first time the former pension task force chairman has been declared wanted by the commission. In November 2015, the EFCC declared him wanted over allegations relating to procurement fraud, stealing and money laundering in connection with the alleged pension biometric scam.
Maina came to national prominence during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan when he headed the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms.
The task force was involved in efforts to recover pension funds and address alleged irregularities within the pension system.
His activities in the pension reform exercise were later overshadowed by legal proceedings initiated by the EFCC over alleged money laundering involving funds linked to the pension reforms.
In November 2022, the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted Maina and sentenced him to eight years in prison for money laundering-related offences. The court also ordered the forfeiture of assets connected to the case.
Maina subsequently appealed the judgment.
However, the EFCC’s latest wanted notice did not disclose whether the new case involving alleged receipt of stolen property is connected to his previous pension-related prosecution.
The commission also did not provide details of the property allegedly received by Maina or explain the circumstances surrounding the latest case.
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