Maina on the run again as Senator Ali Ndume his surety, tells court, ‘I can’t find him’

By our reporter| The man who signed surety for a former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, Senator Ali Ndume on Friday informed a Federal High Court in Abuja that he could no longer find the defendant whom he pledged to always produce in court for trial.

The Senator who represents Borno South Senatorial District where Maina hails from made the disclosure at the Federal High Court in Abuja while responding to the judge’s query about Maina’s continued absence from court.

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.

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 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.