By Sandra Kenneth
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has once again declared Abdulrasheed Maina, the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, wanted over an alleged case of receiving stolen property.
The anti-graft agency issued the declaration in a public notice on Wednesday, accompanied by a photograph of the 61-year-old Borno State indigene.
According to the official notice, the commission urged members of the public with useful information regarding Maina’s whereabouts to report to the nearest police station, security agency, or any of the EFCC’s zonal offices across the country—including Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan, and Maiduguri.
“The public is hereby notified that ABDULRASHEED ABDULLAHI MAINA… is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in an alleged case of Receiving Stolen Properties,” the notice read.
Maina first came to national prominence under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan as head of the pension task force. His tenure was subsequently marred by a multi-billion-naira pension biometric fraud scandal, leading the EFCC to declare him wanted in November 2015 on charges of procurement fraud, stealing, and money laundering.
Following a lengthy legal battle, Maina was convicted by the Federal High Court in Abuja in November 2022 and sentenced to eight years in prison for money laundering offenses, alongside an order for the forfeiture of assets linked to the fraud. He subsequently appealed the judgment.
The EFCC’s latest notice did not specify whether this new wanted declaration is tied to his previous pension-related convictions or disclose further details regarding the alleged stolen property.
