The Federal High Court in Abuja on November 12, 2026 ordered Faisal Maina to a correctional centre to serve a seven-year jail term after six years on the run.
Justice James Omotosho gave the order after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, filed an ex parte motion moved by its lawyer, M.K. Hussain.
Faisal, son of former pension boss Abdulrasheed Maina, was re-arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, on October 14 and handed over to the EFCC. He had jumped bail and failed to attend his trial about six years ago.
The order means Faisal will now begin the Faisal Maina seven-year jail term, six years after he fled from justice.
How the case reached this stage
Faisal was arraigned in 2019 before the Federal High Court in Abuja on a three-count charge of money laundering and failure to make full disclosure in an asset declaration form, according to Daily Post.
After he took his plea before Justice Okon Abang, he jumped bail and avoided his trial. Justice Abang, now an Appeal Court Judge, then proceeded with the trial in his absence, according to Daily Nigerian.
In October 2021, Justice Abang convicted him and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment on counts 1 and 3 and 14 years on count 2. The judge ordered that the counts run concurrently and that Faisal should be arrested anywhere he is found and taken to a correctional centre to serve his jail term.
In November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and reduced the sentence. The Appeal Court ruled that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.
What the latest order directs
Justice Omotosho said, in line with the Appeal Court decision dated November 24, 2022, the sentence shall be three years' imprisonment in count 1, seven years in count 2, and three years in count 3, to run concurrently from October 14, the date he was re-arrested, according to Daily Post.
The EFCC had sought the warrant to enforce the earlier judgment. The court granted the motion and issued the warrant. The term will run from October 14, 2026, the day he was re-arrested. The ruling confirms the Faisal Maina seven-year jail term.
What the court found
The court found that Faisal operated a fictitious account with the United Bank for Africa, UBA, through which his father allegedly laundered N58.1 million.
The money was paid into an account in the name of "Alhaji Faisal Farm 2" and withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.
His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, was the former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team. He was also convicted on a N2 billion money laundering charge and had since served his prison term.
The order closes a six-year gap between conviction and custody and confirms the reduced sentence now applies.
The Federal High Court in Abuja issued a warrant to commit Faisal to a correctional centre. The sentence is three years on count 1, seven years on count 2 and three years on count 3, to run concurrently from October 14. The underlying conviction and the Appeal Court reduction of November 24, 2022 stand.
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