Abdulrasheed Maina, a former chairman of Nigeria’s now-defunct Pension Reform Task Force, a government team set up to address problems in the country’s pension system, has been taken to hospital after he collapsed and fell at his office in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
His media assistant, Emmanuel Ekwe, said the incident happened on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, as Maina tried to enter his office premises. He said Maina had been dealing with complications from an untreated knee injury, which made him lose his balance.
Okay News reports that Maina fell on a staircase and hit his head before people around him quickly stepped in to help.
Ekwe said medical personnel at the scene gave him first aid and moved him to a private hospital in Abuja for urgent treatment. He added that doctors are now closely monitoring his condition.
According to the statement, Maina remains under observation and is receiving intensive care. After an initial assessment, one of the doctors advised that an air ambulance medical evacuation should be considered if his condition does not stabilise within a short period.
His family also appealed to the public for prayers and asked people to respect their privacy while doctors continue to manage the situation. The statement said further updates would be shared as there are new developments.
Maina is widely known in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, for his controversial role in pension reforms and the major corruption case that followed. In November 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal trial court, convicted him on money-laundering charges involving ₦2.1bn linked to pension funds and sentenced him to eight years in prison.
He challenged the ruling, but in May 2023, the Court of Appeal, one of Nigeria’s top appellate courts, upheld the eight-year sentence and maintained the forfeiture of assets connected to the case.
Despite the conviction, Maina was released from Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja on Tuesday, 25 February 2025, after serving part of his sentence. The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), the agency that runs the country’s prisons, explained that the release followed statutory remission for good conduct, and that his sentence was counted from his initial arrest in October 2019.
Since leaving custody, Maina has largely stayed out of public view, but his movements still attract attention because of the size and public impact of the pension scandal.
