Former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, who was serving an eight-year jail term at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, has regained his freedom, although the exact date of his release remains unclear, with sources telling TheCable that he has been out of prison for weeks; Maina was convicted in November 2021 by a Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on money laundering involving over ₦2 billion after being arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in October 2019 on a 12-count charge to which he pleaded not guilty, with trial judge Okon Abang holding that Maina stole over ₦2 billion belonging to pensioners, “most of whom have died without reaping the fruits of their labour,” adding that the former PRTT chairman concealed his identity as a signatory to bank accounts by using his family members’ identities without their knowledge; Abang found Maina guilty on all counts and sentenced him to a cumulative 61 years in prison to run concurrently from October 25, 2019, the date of his arraignment, a judgment Maina challenged at the court of appeal, which in May 2023 upheld both his conviction and eight-year sentence.
