My client not on the run - Maina’s lawyer

Sani Kantu, a lawyer to the former Chairman of the defunct Presidential Task Team on Pension Reform, Abdulrasheed Maina, has said his client is not on the run.

Kantu said Maina could not be on the run when he had gone to court to challenge the legality of the existence of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

“He is not on the run. How can he be on the run when we are challenging the legality of the existence of the EFCC?” he said.

The lawyer noted that it was the House of Representatives that ordered Maina’s arrest.

The arrest order, he argued, had been challenged in the Federal High Court in Abuja, adding that the court, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, had restrained the House from arresting him.

Also, the brother of the defunct PTTPR chairman, Aliyu Maina, on Wednesday, said the raid on the Kaduna house of his embattled brother would not deter him (Abdulrasheed) from telling Nigerians the truth.

Aliyu stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents, while commenting on the raid by gunmen on his brother residence in Kaduna on Sunday.

Armed men had, on Sunday evening, stormed the residence of Maina at Kawo New Extension, Kaduna.

They were said to have ransacked the four-bedroom flat, allegedly searching for arms and ammunition as well as cash.

A security guard in the house, Imrana Ahmadu, had told journalists on Monday that the gunmen told him that they were from the EFCC to search the house for alleged hidden arms and ammunition as well as cash (money).

The spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, Aliyu Mukhtar, confirmed the incident, noting that the command got a report from the Divisional Police Office in Kawo regarding the raid.

“We got a report from DPO, Kawo, regarding the raid on Maina’s house. But we have yet to confirm whether they are really officials of the EFCC. Investigation is ongoing,” he stated.

But Aliyu said the raid would strengthen the resolve of his brother to tell Nigerians the truth and “nothing but the truth” about the N2.1bn he was alleged to have stolen.

He stressed that the embattled former chairman of PTTPR had challenged the EFCC to a debate on the matter.

“He has always maintained his innocence. I can tell you that the raid on his house can never deter him from letting Nigerians know about what he is being accused of and even beyond that. This raid will further strengthen his resolve to tell Nigerians the truth and nothing but the truth,” he added.

The spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, could not be reached for comments on the raid.