The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered for the remand of the extradited former pension Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team Abdulrashid Maina in prison till the end of his trial.
This was made known by Justice Okon Abang on Friday following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s prosecution counsel, Mr Mohammed Abubakar.
The Nigeria Police Force has extradited Abdulrashid Abdullahi Maina, former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), on 3rd December, 2020, to Nigeria from Niamey, Niger Republic, where he was arrested having been declared wanted by a court of competent jurisdiction over a pending criminal trial against him.
Maina fled to the Republic of Niger after being charged of money laundering charge of N2bn.
According to Punch, Justice Abang said, “The defendant is already on bench warrant having jumped bail.
“So he shall be remanded in correctional centre pending the conclusion of the trial.”
According to a Police Spokesman, Frank Mba, ‘Abdulrashid Maina was arrested on 30th November, 2020 through the collaborative efforts of the operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, INTERPOL NCB, Abuja and their Nigerian counterpart. The team from INTERPOL Nigeria, led by the Commissioner of Police INTERPOL, CP Garba Umar, having completed the necessary documentation requirements and other extradition processes, flew the wanted former Pension Boss, Maina into Nigeria aboard an NPF Jet 5N-HAR and landed at exactly 1417Hrs (Nigerian Time).
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni while applauding the trans-national/inter-agency collaborations that led to the successful arrest and extradition of the wanted fugitive, assures that necessary legal actions will follow immediately.’
