A former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, has been convicted by the Federal High Court in Abuja on a 12-count charge of fraud and money laundering involving about N33.8 billion. The case was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC and decided by Justice James Omotosho.

The court held that the EFCC had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, finding Mamman guilty on all counts in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/273/2024. The former minister, who served in the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, was found to have diverted huge sums earmarked for critical power infrastructure into private hands.

According to the judgment, Mamman illegally channelled funds released by the federal government for the Mambilla and Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant projects. Investigators traced much of the money through Bureau de Change operators, who converted the diverted funds into foreign currencies before delivering them to him.

The court also found that Mamman made a cash payment of 655,700 dollars, then equivalent to about N200 million, for a property in Abuja without passing the transaction through a financial institution, in violation of anti-money laundering regulations.

Justice Omotosho described the EFCC’s evidence as overwhelming, contrasting it with what he called the scanty and almost non-existent defence put forward by Mamman. The judge ruled that the defendant failed to provide any credible explanation to counter the prosecution’s case.

In a scathing assessment of Mamman’s tenure, the court lamented that instead of working to improve Nigeria’s chronic electricity shortages, the former minister chose to enrich himself. The judge said Mamman lived large at the expense of ordinary citizens and linked the mismanagement of funds to the country’s persistent power crisis.

Mamman was not in court when the verdict was delivered. His lawyer, Mohammed Ahmed, informed the court that his client’s whereabouts had been unknown since notice of judgment was issued, later claiming that Mamman was ill. The court rejected a plea to postpone the judgment and proceeded in his absence.

Following the conviction, the EFCC applied for a warrant of arrest, and sentencing was deferred. The commission had earlier called 17 witnesses and tendered 43 exhibits, alleging that Mamman conspired with ministry officials to divert about N22 billion from the Zungeru and Mambilla projects and used the proceeds to acquire high-value assets in Nigeria and abroad.