A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Faisal Maina to begin his seven-year prison sentence for money laundering.
Justice James Omotosho issued the order on Thursday, November 12, 2026. The judge acted on an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The commission asked the court to direct the Nigerian Correctional Service to take Faisal into custody. It also requested that his sentence should start from October 14, 2026.
Justice Omotosho granted the EFCC’s application. He ordered Faisal to serve three years on the first count, seven years on the second count and three years on the third count.
The sentences will run concurrently. This means Faisal will spend seven years in prison, not 13 years.
The court also fixed October 14, 2026, as the commencement date. DSS operatives arrested Faisal in Karsana, Abuja, on that date. They later handed him over to the EFCC.
The EFCC first arraigned Faisal in 2019. The charges included money laundering and failure to disclose his assets fully.
He pleaded not guilty but later stopped attending court proceedings. The court continued the trial in his absence.
On October 7, 2021, the court convicted him on all three counts. It initially sentenced him to five years on the first count, 14 years on the second and five years on the third.
However, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in November 2022. It reduced the sentences to three years, seven years and three years respectively.
During the trial, the court examined a bank account linked to Faisal. The account operated under the name Alhaji Faisal Farm 2 at United Bank for Africa (UBA).
The court found that the account received N58.1 million. Evidence also linked Faisal and his father to withdrawals from the account between October 2013 and June 2019.
Meanwhile, Faisal’s father, Abdulrasheed Maina, faced a separate N2 billion pension fraud case. The former Pension Reform Task Team chairman received an eight-year prison sentence.
The latest court order now paves the way for Faisal to serve his outstanding sentence after years of evading arrest.
