The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, son of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, and handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to face the consequences of his money laundering conviction.
Faisal was arrested in the Karsana area of Abuja after security operatives reportedly received intelligence indicating that he had secretly returned to Nigeria, according to reports published on Friday, October 16, 2026.
“His arrest followed credible intelligence which indicated that Faisal had secretly returned to the country,” a security source said.
The source disclosed that DSS operatives tracked Faisal before apprehending him and subsequently transferring him to the EFCC.
Faisal had been on the run since 2020, after the EFCC arraigned him on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering. His trial continued in his absence, culminating in his conviction by the Federal High Court in Abuja in October 2021.
The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment after finding that the EFCC had established that he operated a fictitious account with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), through which his father allegedly laundered ₦58.1 million.
The court held that the money was deposited into an account operated under the name “Alhaji Faisal Farm 2” and subsequently withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.
In November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld Faisal’s conviction but reduced his prison sentence from 14 years to seven years, ruling that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.
His arrest is expected to facilitate the enforcement of the court’s judgment and the commencement of his prison term in accordance with the law.
Faisal’s father, Abdulrasheed Maina, also served an eight-year prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja following his conviction for laundering ₦2 billion in pension funds.
Although the former pension reform task team chairman was released earlier in 2026, he was subsequently declared wanted over an alleged case of receiving stolen property.
