Maina’s Son Begins Seven-Year Jail Term After DSS Re-Arrest

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the commitment of Faisal Maina, son of former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, to a correctional centre to serve his seven-year prison sentence.

Justice James Omotosho issued the order on Thursday after granting an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking to enforce the conviction and sentence imposed on Faisal.

The judge directed that the sentence should commence from October 14, 2026, when operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested him in the Karsana area of Abuja.

The EFCC, through its counsel, M.K. Hussain, had sought a warrant for Faisal's commitment to the Nigeria Correctional Service, in line with the judgments of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal.

Granting the application, Justice Omotosho ordered him to serve three years' imprisonment on the first count, seven years on the second count and three years on the third count.

The sentences are to run concurrently, meaning he will spend seven years in prison.

Faisal was initially arraigned in 2019 on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and failure to make full disclosure in an asset declaration form. He pleaded not guilty but subsequently jumped bail and stopped attending court proceedings.

Following his disappearance, the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, continued the proceedings in his absence and convicted him on October 7, 2021.

The court initially sentenced him to five years' imprisonment on the first and third counts and 14 years on the second count, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Justice Abang also ordered that he be arrested wherever he was found and taken to a correctional facility to serve his sentence.

However, the Court of Appeal, in its judgment delivered on November 24, 2022, upheld the conviction but reduced the sentences to three years on the first and third counts and seven years on the second count.

The appellate court held that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum punishment on a first-time offender.

Faisal was arrested by DSS operatives on October 14, 2026, about six years after absconding from trial, and was subsequently handed over to the EFCC.

His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, was also convicted in a separate money laundering case involving about ₦2bn in pension funds and has since completed his prison sentence.