The trial of Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, continued on Thursday  before Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Asokoro with the judge threatening to revoke the defendant’s bail for employing multiple antics to stall his trial.

Justice Kutigi’s anger followed the presentation of Maina’s hospital referral in court by the defence lawyer, Mr. Achibong and the lawyer’s request for adjournment as a result of the referral, which named no ill health.

The judge frowned at the fact that the case has not gathered any momentum in the past four years as result of diverse antics of the defendant to stall his trial, despite all the opportunities being given to him by the court to respond to fraud allegations against him.

The judge regretted that Maina’s antics “have stalled proceedings completely,” noting that the last time the defendant was present in court was four years ago and considered revoking his bail to force him take his trial seriously.

While refusing the defence lawyer’s request for the adjournment of Thursday’s proceedings, Justice Kutigi disclosed that he has got the commitment of the chambers of the defence lawyers to henceforth proceed with the trial with or without Maina’s presence in court.

With the trashing of the adjournment request, prosecution counsel, Francis Usani proceeded to present the 14th Prosecution Witness PW14, Gogi Mohammed, who began where he left off in his evidence-in-chief at the last adjourned date.

Led in the evidence-in-chief by the prosecution counsel, the witness, an investigator with the by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, disclosed that the investigative team’s visit to Kaduna revealed that “the first defendant used members of staff of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, HoSF to siphon funds through payments of fictitious contract, allowances and biometric enrolment exercise for pensioners.

“In our efforts to discover where the funds were hidden, we discovered a certain relative of the defendant, one Maimuna Usman, who resides in Kaduna, who was a custodian of his assets. We went to her residence, somewhere in Gwando MSC Quarters.

We arrested her and executed a search warrant on her residence and discovered titled documents, deed of assignments, certificate of occupancy of over 30 properties, located mostly in Abuja and Kaduna State.

In the course of interviewing her, she disclosed that the documents were given to her by the first defendant,” he said.

Further in his testimony, he stated that, after interviews with real estate agents who sold the properties, the Commission filed for the forfeiture of the properties.

According to the witness, “Some of the properties were paid for in cash, particularly the property located in Jabi, Abuja.

It was paid by Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina in cash in the sum of $2 million (Two million dollars); and another, located in Life Camp, Abuja, was purchased in cash at the cost of $1.7 million (One Million, Seven Hundred Thousand Dollars).

Another property, located in Katoru Road, Kaduna was purchased at the cost of N100 million and it was paid for in cash.”

Testifying further, he said, “My lord, in the course of my earlier testimony, I mentioned Hamilton Global Services Limited, owned by Osarenkhoe Afe. He was part of the Pension Reform Task Team, headed by Abdulrasheed Maina. He was introduced to the team by the former HoSF, Mr Stephen Orasanye at the instance of Maina.

The said Afe was given contract for biometric enrolment capture at the sum of N63 million, based on the contract award letter, but before the expiration of the contract period, the company requested for a contract extension and additional payment of N136 million, bringing the contract sum to N199 million. We requested for Innovative Solution account statement and upon analysis, we discovered that a total sum of N224 million was paid to the company in respect of the same contract.

We invited the owner of the company, Robert Eakazobo. He admitted in the course of the interview that the contract was inflated at the instance of the first defendant.

“We also discovered in the course of analysing his account that out of the N224 million paid to Innovative Solution, he transferred the sum of N166 million to Fredrick Hamilton’s account.

Further analysis of the account showed that he was paid N1.19 million directly from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation for biometric enrolment.

In the course of the interview, Afe informed the investigative team that the money he received from Innovative Solutions and the ones he received directly from the Office of the Head of Service, totalled about N280 million and he gave N250 million in tranches to the first defendant, usually through issuing of post-dated cheques to him,” he said.

The witness identified both the extra-judicial statements of the first defendant and second defendants, consisting of six and three pages respectively, written by them in their own handwriting in the Commission’s office.

However, the defence team of both defendants objected to their admissibility on the claim that they were obtained under duress.

To determine the true state under which the defendants wrote their statements in EFCC’s office, the court adjourned till February 20 and 26 for trial-within-trial.

Maina was arraigned alongside Ann Igwe Olachi in 2019 on a nine-count charge, bordering on receipt of stolen funds to the tune of N738, 612,019.99 (Seven Hundred and Thirty-eight Million, Six Hundred and Twelve Thousand, Nineteen Naira, Ninety-nine Kobo).

Count one of the charge reads: “Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina on or about 2nd July, 2010 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court dishonestly received the sum of N155,000,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Five Million Naira Only) from Fredrick Hamilton Global Services Limited through one Osarenkhoe Afe (both of whom are facing a separate charge at the Federal High Court, knowing that the said money was stolen from the Federal Government of Nigeria under the guise of contract for biometric enrolment of pensioners. Receiving stolen property is punishable under Section 317 (read in conjunction with Section 316 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, vol. 4 Laws of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, 2007.”

Count two reads: “Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina and Igwe Ann Olachi between July and December 2011 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly received an aggregate sum of N153, 146, 719.99 (One Hundred and Fifty Three Million, One Hundred and Forty Six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Nineteen Naira, Ninety Nine Kobo) from Xangee Technologies Limited, (which company is facing a separate charge before this court) knowing that the said money was stolen from the Federal Government of Nigeria under the guise of contract for biometric enrolment of pensioners.

Receiving stolen property is punishable under Section 317 (read in conjunction with Section 316 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, vol. 4 Laws of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, 2007.”

Both defendants pleaded “not guilty,” thus eliciting their trial.