The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Faisal Maina, son of former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, to be transferred to a correctional facility to begin serving his seven-year prison sentence for money laundering. Justice James Omotosho issued the order on Thursday after granting an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking a warrant for Faisal’s commitment to the Nigeria Correctional Service. The commission approached the court to enforce the conviction and sentence previously imposed on him for money laundering and failure to fully disclose his assets in an asset declaration form. Faisal was rearrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on October 14, 2026, in the Karsana area of Abuja, approximately six years after jumping bail and disappearing during his trial.
He was subsequently handed over to the EFCC, which sought judicial authorisation to ensure that the outstanding sentence was enforced.Following the application moved by EFCC counsel, M.K. Hussain, Justice Omotosho granted the requested reliefs and issued a committal warrant directing Faisal 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 effectively spend seven years in prison, beginning from October 14, 2026, the date of his rearrest. Faisal was initially arraigned in 2019 on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and failure to make full disclosure of his assets. He pleaded not guilty before Justice Okon Abang but subsequently stopped attending court proceedings after jumping bail. Following his disappearance, the court revoked his bail and continued the trial in his absence.
On October 7, 2021, Justice Abang convicted him and initially imposed five years’ imprisonment on the first and third counts and 14 years on the second count, with the sentences running concurrently. The judge also ordered his arrest wherever he was found and directed that he be transferred to a correctional facility.Although the Court of Appeal upheld Faisal’s conviction in its judgment delivered on November 24, 2022, it reduced the sentences to three years on the first and third counts and seven years on the second count. The appellate court maintained that the sentences should run concurrently, effectively establishing the seven-year prison term now being enforced. Faisal’s rearrest in October 2026 brought an end to nearly six years of avoiding the outstanding sentence following his conviction. His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, was also convicted in a separate money laundering case involving approximately ₦2 billion in pension funds and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment in November 2021. The former pension reform boss has since completed his prison sentence and was released in February 2025 following statutory remission for good conduct. With the latest court order, authorities are now authorised to enforce Faisal’s outstanding sentence in accordance with the appellate court’s decision.
