Convict Abdulrasheed Maina gets NBA award and blames Malami

A jailed pension scammer popped back up, snagged a lawyer award, and started pointing fingers, acting like the system owes him an apology.

What just happened in Abuja

• Yeah, somehow, Abdulrasheed Maina showed up smiling at a Nigerian Bar Association Garki Branch event.
• The same guy convicted over N2 billion taken from pensioners walked away with a Rule of Law and Courage Award.
• The scene went down on Jimmy Carter Street in Asokoro, Abuja, with Maina rocking a muffler, calling him Patron.

Maina flips the script on Malami

• Instead of keeping a low profile, Maina aimed straight at Abubakar Malami.
• He basically said the government barely scratched the surface and left serious money on the table.
• From his angle, Malami deserves another hard look because, in his words, the real cash trail runs deeper.

About Malami’s legal mess

• Malami, alongside his wife and son, is already in court over money laundering claims.
• The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission dragged the case into the open.
• Detention at Kuje Correctional Centre happened, bail followed, then a rearrest by the State Security Service.

Maina says he is the wrong villain

• He claimed powerful figures from the last administration set him up.
• According to him, his bail jump story involved a government aircraft, medical travel, and the Niger Republic.
• He insisted this administration would never let that kind of chaos slide.

Why was Maina famous in the first place

• Back in 2010, under Goodluck Jonathan, Maina was tasked with fixing a rotten pension system.
• His job covered biometric checks meant to wipe out ghost pensioners.
• Instead, investigators say billions vanished through fake contracts and shell accounts.

How the fraud allegedly worked

• Prosecutors said Maina opened accounts under made-up identities.
• Relatives who worked as bankers allegedly helped keep the money flowing.
• Even his siblings took the stand, explaining how their details were used without consent.
• Common Input Property and Investment Ltd went down with him and was ordered shut.

Banks and the money trail

• Nigerian banks were dragged into the narrative.
• United Bank for Africa and Fidelity Bank Plc were flagged as routes through which the cash passed.
• The end result was pensioners getting fleeced while balances quietly ballooned.

Arrest, conviction, and sentencing

• Maina fled Nigeria in 2013 and landed on an EFCC wanted list.
• After an Interpol alert, the Niger Republic handed him back.
• In 2021, he got eight years for laundering pension funds.
• Judge Okon Abang called the case morally ugly and spoke about pensioners dying while waiting for benefits.

Family fallout

• His son, Faisal Maina, later got a 14-year sentence upheld on appeal.
• Maina argued his kid was targeted for who his father is, not for personal actions.
• He even claimed his son survived a shooting and detention afterward.

The prison exit mystery

• Nobody publicly marked when Maina left custody.
• Associates said his sentence wrapped quietly, and he returned home around February 2025.
• That NBA event looked like his first real public reappearance.

The whistleblower claims

• Maina said officials met him in Abu Dhabi in 2017.
• He claimed a whistleblower deal promised him a cut for helping recover massive sums.
• According to him, trillions were recovered, assets seized, and his share never paid.
• When he asked where recovered properties ended up, he said threats followed.

Where he stands now

• At the event, Maina flatly denied wrongdoing.
• He painted himself as a hunter of stolen funds, not a thief.
• The big question hanging in the air is why a convicted pension fraudster is lecturing lawyers about accountability.