NIGERIA’S Federal High Court has handed down one of the country’s starkest anti-corruption verdicts in recent memory, sentencing former Minister of Power Saleh Mamman to 75 years in prison for laundering more than N33.8 billion – approximately $21 million – in public funds meant for flagship electricity projects. The conviction and sentence were delivered in Mamman’s absence. He has been declared a fugitive.
Justice James Omotosho, sitting in Abuja, convicted Mamman last week on all 12 counts brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), then deferred sentencing to Wednesday. When the hearing resumed, prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) – who also serves as Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation – informed the court that the convict had again not appeared and that his lawyers offered no credible explanation for his whereabouts.
“The sentence will run consecutively from the date of his arrest,” Justice Omotosho ruled, ordering all national and international security agencies, as well as Interpol, to locate, arrest, and hand Mamman over to the Nigerian Correctional Service.
How the Fraud Was Structured
The charges centre on events in 2019, when Mamman was serving as Power Minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari. Count one of the indictment alleged that he conspired with ministry officials and private companies to unlawfully convert the full sum of N33,804,830,503.73 – funds released by the federal government for the Mambilla and Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant Projects – through a network of private entities. Both projects have long been cited as symbols of Nigeria’s chronically unfulfilled energy ambitions.
Count two charged that in December 2019, Mamman conspired with one Samson Bitrus to make a cash payment of US$665,700 to Mohiba Investment Ltd, acting through Mohammed Asheik Jidda, outside of any financial institution – a direct violation of Nigeria’s Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
The offences were brought under Sections 15(2)(b), 18(a), and related provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, as amended, which prohibit the conversion or concealment of proceeds from unlawful activity.
The Sentence Breakdown
Justice Omotosho structured the sentence across the 12 counts as follows: seven years each on counts 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, without an option of fine; three years on count 4 with an optional fine of N10 million; and two years on count 5 without an option of fine. All terms are to run consecutively, not concurrently – a judicial choice that underscores the gravity the court assigned to the crimes.
The court further ordered that Mamman refund the difference between funds already recovered and the N22 billion for which he was found guilty – meaning the financial reckoning extends well beyond the prison term itself.
Assets Seized
Acting on the prosecution’s application, the court ordered the immediate forfeiture to the federal government of two units of four-bedroom detached apartments at 93 Ahmed Joda Crescent, Kado Estate, Abuja, and a property at Nos 12A and 12B Lingo Street, Wuse, Abuja.
The court also forfeited a substantial haul of foreign and local currencies recovered from Mamman’s residence: US$13,890, €19,960, £10,000, 42,390 Dinar, R35,000 South African rand, ₹5,060,000 Indian rupee, and 247 Saudi Arabian riyals — a tranche of cash holdings in seven currencies that prosecutors argued were the proceeds of crime.
Context: Power Sector Plunder
The Mambilla and Zungeru hydro projects are among Nigeria’s most prominent – and most delayed – electricity infrastructure undertakings. Mambilla, conceived as one of Africa’s largest hydroelectric schemes, has remained trapped in a cycle of funding disputes, contract controversies, and suspended timelines for decades. The diversion of procurement funds from such projects has directly contributed to the country’s persistent electricity deficit, which continues to undermine industrial output and household welfare across Nigeria.
Mamman’s conviction is the latest in a series of high-profile EFCC prosecutions targeting officials from the Buhari administration, though critics of Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework note that convictions of this magnitude rarely proceed to full enforcement when the accused remain at large.
With Interpol now engaged, the proceedings shift the case from a domestic courtroom drama to a potential international extradition matter. No country of residence for Mamman has been publicly confirmed.
