Maina.
Senator Ali Ndume who is standing as surety for a former
Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed
Maina, has informed a Federal High Court in Abuja that he could no
longer find the defendant whom he had made legal commitment to
always produce in court for his trial.
Senator Ndume disclosed this on Friday at the Federal High Court
in Abuja while responding to the judge’s query about Maina’s
absence for the third time in a row within one week.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting
Maina on 12 counts of money laundering involving about N2bn.
The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, had ordered the defendant,
Maina to provide a serving senator as a surety for the bail granted
to him.
Justice Abang had, following Maina’s repeated requests, varied
the bail conditions twice, reducing the bail sum from the original
N1bn to N500m with only one surety as opposed, two originally
requested by the court.
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The only surety who must be a serving senator must be ready to
accompany the defendant to court and sign the court’s register of
attendance for every hearing session, the judge had ordered.
Ndume who represents Borno South Senatorial District where Maina
hails from later agreed to serve as the defendant’s surety.
Justice Abang, however, adjourned the matter till October 5,
with an order that the surety must be in court with the defendant
on that day.
Maina was granted bail on July 28, nine months after he was
detained at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.