An FCT High Court has warned former pension task force boss Abdulrasheed Maina that his bail may be revoked over repeated delays in his long-running fraud trial.
Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, was on Thursday issued a fresh judicial warning as Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Asokoro, threatened to revoke his bail over repeated delays in his trial. The warning followed an attempt by the defence to secure an adjournment based on a hospital referral that failed to indicate any ill health, a move the court viewed with concern.
Justice Kutigi expressed frustration over the prolonged proceedings, noting that the trial had been stalled for nearly four years due to the defendant’s “diverse antics.” He stressed that despite several opportunities to respond to the fraud allegations, Maina had largely avoided active participation in the trial, adding that he had secured a commitment from the defence chambers to continue with the case with or without Maina’s presence, effectively rejecting the adjournment request.
Proceedings resumed with prosecution counsel Francis Usani calling the 14th prosecution witness, Gogi Mohammed, an EFCC investigator, who presented further evidence in the ongoing N738.6 million fraud case. Mohammed told the court that Maina allegedly used staff of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation to siphon funds through fictitious contracts, allowances and a biometric enrolment exercise for pensioners, adding that investigators traced several assets to Maina’s relative, Maimuna Usman, in Kaduna, where documents for over 30 properties—mostly in Abuja and Kaduna—were recovered, including properties allegedly bought in cash for $2 million, $1.7 million and N100 million.