The International Police Organisation (INTERPOL) says it has not received a request from the Nigerian government for the arrest of Abdulrasheed Maina.

This is contrary to claims made by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Maina’s investigation has been expanded. This is beyond reinstatement. It has gone beyond that,” Shehu said.

“You know that the INTERPOL has just issued an international warrant on him. A Nigerian court has also issued yet another warrant of arrest.

But an investigation by The Punch revealed that Shehu’s comments may not be a statement of fact.

According to the report, “none of Nigeria’s investigative agencies, the EFCC, Department of State Services, and Nigeria Immigration Service, had made a formal request to the National Central Bureau (NCB) of INTERPOL to issue an arrest warrant for the fleeing Maina”.

It is only when a formal request is made to INTERPOL by the Nigerian government that Maina’s case can be forwarded to the organisation’s headquarters in Lyon, France.

“As of Saturday, the INTERPOL General Secretariat had not received any request from either the EFCC or DSS to arrest Maina. So, as far as we are concerned, Maina is not a fugitive,” Punch quoted a highly-placed source as saying.

There had been an INTERPOL arrest warrant against Maina when he first fled the country in 2013. The warrant was issued at the at the prompting of the EFCC.

However, there was a court judgement to the effect that the arrest warrant be revoked, and subsequently, the EFCC did not challenge that court ruling.

“So, for the arrest warrant to be renewed, the EFCC would need to make [a] fresh request to the NCB which would be processed and the necessary action taken,” the source further explained.

The source further explained that before an arrest warrant can be issued against anyone by INTERPOL, a formal request must be sent from a national investigative agency to the INTERPOL headquarters, which would consider the request and, if found credible,  mandate member states to issue notices on the suspect.

The country requesting for such a warrant must show proof that the fugitive has committed a crime. Also, it must tender a warrant of arrest issued against the person by any law enforcement agency and the court within the jurisdiction where the said offence was committed.