Alleged N2bn Fraud: ‘I Can’t Find Maina’ – Senator Ndume, Surety For Ex-Pension Boss Tells Court
Senator Ali Ndume, who is standing as surety for a former Chairman of defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, has said that he is not aware of the defendant’s whereabout.
Ndume stated this at the Federal High Court in Abuja while responding to the judge’s query about Maina’s absence for the third time in a row within one week.
Ndume as a surety is under legal commitment to always produce Maina in court for his trial.
The ex-pension boss is accused of diverting N100 billion of pension funds and is also facing trial for alleged money laundering.
Maina is being prosecuted by EFCC on a 12-count charge, accused of operating fictitious accounts and carrying out fraudulent activities.
The former pension chief, who was in hiding for almost two years, was arrested by the State Security Service last year.
SSS then handed over Maina, who headed the pension reform task team, to EFCC, which had declared him wanted for over a year.
Following his arrest and detention, the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, had ordered Maina to provide a serving senator as a surety in order to be granted bail.
The judge, following Maina’s repeated requests, varied the bail conditions, reducing the bail sum from the original N1billion to N500million with only one surety as opposed two originally requested by the court.
The only surety who must be a serving senator must be ready to accompany the defendant to court and sign the court’s register of attendance for every hearing session, the judge had ordered.
Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District where Maina hails from, later agreed to serve as the defendant’s surety after 6 months of persuasion.
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In line with terms and conditions of the bail which the judge gave in January 2020, Ndume gave legal commitment to accompany the defendant to court every trial date and provided the court with the title documents of his property worth N500m in a choice area of Abuja as a guarantee.
However, both Maina and Ndume were absent for the proceedings scheduled to hold on September 29.
The senator who subsequently attended court on September 30 without Maina explained to the judge on Friday that he was absent from the September 29 proceedings due to the Boko Haram attack on the convoy of the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum.
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He told the court that Maina’s doctor had said the defendant was admitted to the hospital.
Ndume added that he was expecting Maina to be in court on Friday following an earlier assurance by the defendant’s wife.
When asked by the judge if he knew the defendant’s whereabouts, the Senator said, “My lord, I must confess, I do not know.”
The senator, who recalled that he agreed to serve as Maina’s surety following pleas by the defendant’s wife and uncle, also said, “I did not foresee these circumstances, my lord”.
He said he did not know Maina’s residence in Abuja, but he knew the one in Kaduna.
The senator pleaded for more time to enable him to find the defendant.
Defence lawyer, Francis Oronsaye, who had at the previous proceedings informed the court that Maina was on hospital admission, urged the court to further adjourn the case.
However, EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Farouk Abdullahi, opposed the request for an adjournment, informing the court that the anti-corruption agency’s investigation revealed that Maina was not a patient at Maitama General Hospital.
The lawyer, who said the development showed that Maina had jumped bail, urged the court to issue a warrant of arrest against Maina.
He also urged the court to summon Ndume to explain why he should not forfeit the bail bond and be remanded in prison in line with the commitment he entered into as a surety for the defendant’s bail.
However, the defence lawyer appealed to Justice Abang to further exercise patience with the defendants.
The lawyer urged the court to accept the explanation offered by Ndume and to give him time to produce Maina to stand trial.
Responding, Justice Abang who expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the defendant, said the Senator ought to have been wary of the risk involved in standing as a surety.
He maintained that the law would take its course, adding that the prosecution was right to ask for the revocation of Maina’s bail and for the surety to forfeit the bail bond.
The judge, however, adjourned the matter till October 5, with an order that the surety must be in court with the defendant on that day.
