After being on the run for about six years, nemesis has finally caught up with Faisal Maina, son of the ex-convict, Abdulrasheed Maina, with a Federal High Court siting in Abuja ordering that his committal to a correctional centre to serve a seven-year jail term following he he was recently re-arrested Department of State Services (DSS).
Justice James Omotosho gave the order after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed an ex-parte motion which was moved by its lawyer, M.K. Hussain.
Faisal, who jumped bail and evaded law enforcement for roughly six years after being tried for money laundering, was re-arrested by the DSS on October 14 and handed over to the EFCC.
His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team, was also convicted over a N2 billion money laundering charge and had since served his prison term.
Recalled that 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.
After Faisal took his plea on the charges preferred against him before Justice Okon Abang, who is now an Appeal Court justice, the defendant jumped bail and avoided his trial, prompting Justice Abang to proceed with the trial in his absence.
Delivering the judgment on October 7, 2021, the Judge convicted and sentenced him to five years imprisonment on counts 1 and 3, and 14 years on count 2. Furthermore, Justice Abang ordered that all the counts should run concurrently and that Faisal should be arrested anywhere he is found and taken to a correctional centre to serve his jail term.
Following his re-arrest, the EFCC filed the ex-parte motion seeking an order granting leave to the anti-graft Agency to apply for the order enforcing Justice Abang’s judgment delivered against Faisal on October 7, 2021.
It also sought an order issuing a warrant to commit the defendant/convict to the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) or prison to enable him serve the jail sentence imposed on him by Justice O.E Abang, pursuant to the judgment delivered on October 7, 2021 and the Court of Appeal judgment of the 24th November, 2022.
In addition, the prosecution sought an order directing that the “defendant/convict serve the jail terms as ordered against him from Octoer 14, 2026, being the day he was rearrested.” After Hussain moved the motion, Justice Omotosho granted it.
Justice Omotosho, who gave the leave for the “EFCC to apply for the order enforcing the judgment, issued a warrant to commit Faisal to NCoS to enable him serve the jail sentence imposed on him by the FHC and Appeal Court’s judgments, beginning from October 14 when he was re-arrested”
Following the Appeal Court’s landmark decision of November 24, 2022, justice has now taken its definitive course. The court sentenced him to three years behind bars on count one, a formidable seven years on count two, and another three years on count three.
All his sentences will run concurrently, rather than back-to-back and the countdown on his punishment officially began ticking on October 14, 2026, the exact day he was taken back into custody by the security and anti-corruption Commission. – With NAN reports
