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.
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