By Eshioromeh Sebastian in Abuja
The convicted former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, has pointed to massive, unrecovered wealth allegedly linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as the ex-minister grapples with a multi-billion naira trial and the forfeiture of hundreds of billions in properties.
Maina, who regain freedom yesterday after serving an eight-year sentence for laundering N2 billion in pension funds, claimed during a press conference in Abuja that the government has seen less than a quarter of the funds allegedly stolen by Malami.
“What government has seen so far is not even one quarter,” Maina stated, adding, “Malami allegedly stole a lot of funds. Because I’m a specialist—my specialty is the recovery of public funds. I trace funds wherever they are, and that is why they have been after me. We can recover these funds from Malami, they are more than what has been seen.”
He further alleged that properties recovered from his earlier whistleblowing efforts were shared between Malami and the former EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, leading to a fallout between the two officials.
Maina’s claims intensify the scrutiny on Malami, who, alongside his wife and son, was arraigned on December 30, 2025, on 16 counts of money laundering involving N8.7 billion. After being granted bail of ₦500 million each, the former minister was re-arrested this week by the Department of State Services for a separate investigation.
Compounding Malami’s legal woes, the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 properties valued at approximately N213.2 billion, suspected to be proceeds of crime linked to him. The assets include high-value real estate in Abuja’s most exclusive districts, such as a Maitama duplex initially bought for N500 million but now valued at nearly N6 billion.
While Maina did not explicitly vow to present physical evidence, his declaration that there are far more funds to be recovered from Malami introduces a severe allegation from a controversial figure at the heart of a major pension fraud, suggesting that the known charges and forfeitures may only scratch the surface of the former minister’s alleged financial misconduct.
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