..Accuses Ex AGF, EFCC’s Magu of sharing recovered properties
Eshioromeh Sebastian in Abuja
Abdulrasheed Maina, the convicted former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, has claimed that the Nigerian government has recovered less than a quarter of the funds allegedly stolen by a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
Maina, currently serving an eight-year jail term for laundering N2 billion in pension funds, made the explosive allegations during a press conference on Thursday, where he also accused Malami and the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, of sharing properties recovered from his earlier whistleblowing efforts.
Speaking during a press conference, Maina asserted, “Malami allegedly stole a lot of funds. What government has seen so far is not even one quarter, one quarter. 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 went further to implicate Magu, the suspended anti-graft czar, alleging a fallout between the two former top officials over the sharing of recovered assets. “These things, properties were shared among Magu and his cronies, and Malami. It is one of the reasons for the fallout of Malami and Magu,” Maina stated.
Maina anchored his claims on his controversial recall to Nigeria in 2017. He said he was invited to Abu Dhabi by senior officials of the Buhari administration, including the late President Muhammadu Buhari, then Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and Malami, who he said pleaded with him to return and assist in recovering stolen funds.
According to him, his reputation as a recovery expert during the Goodluck Jonathan administration—where he claimed to have recovered N1.6 trillion, a feat he said former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala can attest to—was the reason for the invitation.
Maina said he eventually returned, signed a whistleblower agreement entitling him to 5% of recoveries, and helped retrieve N1.3 trillion in cash and N88 billion in assets for the government. He insists he has not been paid his approximately N65 billion fee, alleging that his refusal to “share” the money led to his prosecution and imprisonment.
Maina’s latest claims come against the backdrop of his conviction by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on November 8, 2021. The court found him guilty of 12 counts of money laundering involving N2 billion belonging to pensioners, most of whom the judge noted “have died without reaping the fruits of their labour.”
The EFCC proved during trial that Maina, a civil servant earning N256,000 monthly, purchased property in Abuja with $1.4 million cash, opened fraudulent bank accounts using his family’s identities, and laundered billions through his son, Faisal, who was also sentenced to 14 years in absentia.
Maina’s history is marked by dramatic evasion of the law. After being appointed in 2010 to reform the pension system, he was accused of fraud, dismissed, and declared wanted. In a brazen turn, he was secretly reinstated and promoted in 2016, receiving N22 million in back pay while still a fugitive. He jumped bail twice before being extradited from Niger Republic.
This history severely stains his credibility, framing him as a central figure in the corruption he now claims to expose.
Maina’s allegations touch on longstanding tensions within the Buhari administration’s anti-corruption framework, particularly the publicly documented feud between Malami and Magu, which ultimately led to Magu’s suspension and investigation in 2020.
Spear News Nigeria reports that Malami is currently under trial over allegations of corruption to the tune of billions of naira. He was taken back into custody by the Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday shortly after meeting his bail conditions and being released from Kuje Prison.
Malami, his wife, and his son had been granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, January 17, at ₦500 million each. However, shortly after his release on Tuesday, DSS operatives intercepted and rearrested him.
The former minister had previously alleged a plot by the secret police to re-arrest him, claiming in a statement last week that DSS officials were surveilling the prison. He is now reportedly facing a fresh probe by the DSS, linked to the reported discovery of arms at his country home in Kebbi State during an earlier search by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Malami, his wife, and son were initially remanded in Kuje Prison on December 30, 2025, after being arraigned on 16 counts of money laundering.
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