“Ex-Power Minister Bags 75 Years in Prison Over N33.8bn Scam”

Former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, has been sentenced to 75 years imprisonment in absentia by Justice James Omotosho over a N33.8 billion money laundering and fraud case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The judgment was delivered on Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where the court found Mamman guilty on all 12 counts brought against him by the anti-graft agency. Justice Omotosho ruled that the prosecution successfully proved beyond reasonable doubt that the former minister was involved in the diversion and laundering of public funds earmarked for critical electricity projects across the country.

According to the court, the offences were linked to funds allocated for the Mambilla and Zungeru hydroelectric power projects, two major power initiatives designed to boost electricity generation in Nigeria. The prosecution established that billions of naira meant for the projects were illegally diverted through various fraudulent transactions allegedly orchestrated during Mamman’s tenure as minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Justice Omotosho sentenced the former minister to seven years imprisonment each on counts 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, all without the option of fine. He also handed Mamman a three-year jail term on count four with an option of a N10 million fine, while count five attracted an additional two-year prison sentence without an option of fine.

The judge ordered that the sentences should run consecutively rather than concurrently, bringing the total prison term to 75 years.

Mamman was absent during the judgment and sentencing proceedings, a move the court described as a deliberate attempt to evade justice and frustrate the judicial process. Relying on provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Justice Omotosho agreed with the lead prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), that the law permits sentencing to proceed even in the absence of a defendant who deliberately refuses