He was declared wanted, arrested in Niger and jailed for money laundering — now EFCC wants Abdulrasheed Maina again

• Abdulrasheed Maina was first declared wanted by the EFCC in 2015 over alleged pension-related fraud.

• He was convicted of money laundering in 2021 and released in February 2025 after statutory remission.

• The EFCC's latest wanted notice concerns an alleged receipt of stolen property, but gives no details of the property or its value.

For Abdulrasheed Maina, being declared wanted by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency is not new.

More than a decade ago, the former chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations linked to biometric contracts for pensioners.

Years later, he would be arrested in Niger Republic after jumping bail, brought back to Nigeria and eventually sent to prison following a money-laundering conviction.

He was released in 2025 after serving part of his sentence. Now, the EFCC wants him again.

On September 23, 2026, the commission published Maina’s photograph on its wanted list over an alleged case of “receiving stolen property” and asked anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact the agency or the nearest security agency. 

To understand why his name is back on the wanted list, it helps to go back to where the story began.

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In 2015, Maina was chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, a government body set up to address problems surrounding the country's pension system.

The EFCC declared him wanted after accusing him and others of involvement in alleged fraud surrounding biometric enrolment contracts for pensioners. The case also involved former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, and businessman Osarenkhoe Afe.

The EFCC said Maina had been charged alongside the other defendants in a 24-count case involving alleged procurement fraud and obtaining money by false pretence. He was accused of failing to appear in court.

In the later amended charges, the EFCC alleged that contracts for biometric enrolment had been awarded without following due process.

One count concerned ₦161.47 million allegedly linked to an extension of a biometric enrolment contract, while another involved ₦131.04 million. Maina and the other defendants pleaded not guilty.

But that was only the beginning of Maina's long legal battle with the EFCC.

In 2019, the EFCC brought a separate 12-count case against Maina and his company, Common Input Property and Investment Ltd.

This case centred on allegations of money laundering involving more than N1.8 billion in pension funds.

The EFCC alleged that Maina took possession of about ₦1.82 billion through a Fidelity Bank account and used another account operated in his sister's name to divert pension funds. 

Maina pleaded not guilty. But in September 2020, he stopped attending the proceedings after being granted bail. The court revoked his bail and ordered his arrest.

He was eventually arrested in Niamey, Niger Republic, on November 30, 2020, in an operation involving INTERPOL Nigeria, the Nigerian Police Force and their Nigerien counterparts. He was returned to Nigeria on December 3.

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Maina's return to Nigeria did not mean the drama surrounding his trial was over. On December 10, 2020, he collapsed inside the Federal High Court in Abuja while his money-laundering trial was underway.

He was sitting in the dock when his lawyer was addressing Justice Okon Abang about a no-case submission. Maina suddenly slumped, prompting prison officials and lawyers to rush to his aid. The judge suspended proceedings to allow him to be attended to.

His health later became an issue in his applications for bail. In February 2021, his lawyer told the court that Maina feared he could lose his leg because of a knee problem and needed medical treatment. 

The EFCC opposed the application, pointing to his previous decision to leave the country while on bail.

In November 2021, Justice Okon Abang convicted Maina on all 12 counts in the money-laundering case.

The court imposed prison terms totalling 61 years but ordered them to run concurrently, meaning the effective sentence was eight years.

Maina was also ordered to refund ₦1 billion to the Federal Government, while his company was ordered to refund ₦183 million and $223,000. The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and sentence in May 2023.

Despite the eight-year sentence, Maina did not spend eight full years in prison.

The Nigerian Correctional Service said he was released on February 25, 2025, because his sentence was calculated from October 25, 2019, the date of his arrest, and he qualified for statutory remission based on good conduct and industry while in custody.

But prison was not the end of his legal problems.

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Maina is also facing a separate case before the FCT High Court in Abuja alongside Ann Igwe Olachi over the alleged receipt of ₦738.6 million in stolen funds.

The case dates back to 2019 and was still ongoing in 2026.

In February, the proceedings were delayed after Maina's new lawyer asked for more time to study the case, citing his client's illness. The judge, Abubakar Kutigi, expressed frustration over the repeated delays and said he had lost count of the lawyers who had represented Maina. 

Around the same time, Maina's media aide said he had suffered another collapse.

According to the aide, Maina slumped outside his office in February 2026, after an untreated knee injury caused him to lose his balance. He allegedly hit his head on a staircase and was taken to a private hospital in Abuja.

The aide said doctors kept him under observation and that an air ambulance evacuation might be considered if his condition did not improve. Those medical details were statements from his aide and were not independently confirmed in the report. 

On September 23, 2026, the EFCC published a wanted notice identifying Maina, 61, as wanted over an alleged case of “receiving stolen properties".

The notice asks anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact the EFCC or the nearest police station or security agency.

The EFCC's notice does not state what property Maina allegedly received, its value, when the alleged offence occurred or whether the allegation is linked to the separate ₦738.6 million case.

His history with the EFCC stretches across several cases: the 2015 wanted declaration, the 2019 money-laundering prosecution that resulted in his 2021 conviction, the separate ₦738.6 million case that remains pending, and now the 2026 allegation of receiving stolen property.

For now, the EFCC's latest notice establishes that Maina is a wanted man, but that alone does not establish that he has committed the fresh offence alleged against him.