Court orders forfeiture of 23 assets ‘linked’ to Maina

A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the temporary forfeiture of 23 properties allegedly linked to Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT).

Folashade Ogunbanjo, the judge, gave the order on Tuesday following an ex parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In the application, the anti-graft agency asked the court to order the temporary forfeiture of the properties linked to Maina.

The EFCC also sought an order of the court to publish an advert on the properties in a national daily to enable interested persons to show cause why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

The EFCC supported its motion by a 30-paragraph affidavit which it brought pursuant to section 17 of the money laundering act.

The affected properties were listed in a schedule attached to the motion which was argued by Mohammed Abubakar, EFCC’s lawyer.

The judge also asked the EFCC to publish the ruling in a national daily.

She also ordered the EFCC to return to court on November 19 for the mentioning of the case.

The Department of State Services (DSS) arrested Maina at a hotel in Abuja on September 30.

He was arrested in the company of his 20-year-old son, Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, who unsuccessfully tried to resist the arrest. He was said to have pulled a pistol at the security agents involved in the operation.

The federal civil service commission dismissed Maina in 2013 for absconding from duty following a recommendation by the office of the head of service.

He was accused of being involved in pension fraud running into over N100 billion. After an investigation by the senate joint committee on public service establishment, a warrant of arrest was issued against him.

Subsequently, the police declared him wanted and he went into hiding. However, in 2017, he returned to the country under controversial circumstances and was reinstated as a director in the ministry of interior.

But President Muhammadu Buhari ordered his dismissal and demanded a probe into his recall.