Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, to 75 years in prison for conspiracy and money laundering involving N33.8 billion meant for the Mambilla and Zungeru hydroelectric power projects. Justice James Omotosho found the former minister guilty on all 12 counts brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in a landmark ruling that marks a major milestone in Nigeria’s protracted fight against grand corruption.
Justice Omotosho delivered the judgment on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, capping a trial that lasted nearly two years. The court heard that Mamman, who served as Minister of Power under former President Muhammadu Buhari, was complicit in the illegal diversion of billions of naira earmarked for the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project and the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Project. In a damning verdict, the trial judge held that the former minister paid $655,700 in cash, equivalent to about N200 million, for a landed property in Abuja without recourse to a financial institution — a clear violation of money laundering laws. According to the court, large sums of the stolen funds were funneled through Bureau de Change operators who converted the naira into foreign currencies before handing the money over to the former minister.
Mamman was first arraigned on July 11, 2024, on a 12-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering. He pleaded not guilty and mounted a defence that the court would later describe as “scanty and almost absent”. The EFCC called 17 witnesses and tendered 43 exhibits during the trial. After the prosecution closed its case, Mamman filed a “no‑case submission” on November 19, 2025, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to require him to mount a defence. On December 11, 2025, Justice Omotosho dismissed the application, ruling that the EFCC had established a prima facie case and ordering Mamman to open his defence. The case was subsequently adjourned to February 23, 2026, for the commencement of his defence.
On May 7, 2026, the court convicted Mamman in absentia, having found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt on the 12‑count charge in suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/273/2024. The former minister was not present for either his conviction or his sentencing. His lawyer, Mohammed Ahmed, told the court that he did not know his client’s whereabouts and that calls placed to his telephone lines had failed to connect. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, Justice Omotosho ordered all security agencies, including Interpol, to arrest the former minister wherever he is found.
Justice Omotosho sentenced the former minister to seven years imprisonment each on 10 counts, three years on count four and two years on count five. The judge ordered that the sentences would run consecutively, bringing the total to 75 years. The court ruled that the jail term would begin from the day the convict is arrested, a provision that effectively leaves Mamman facing the remainder of his life behind bars unless he surrenders to authorities or is apprehended. The court also ordered the forfeiture of various foreign currencies recovered from the former minister, as well as four choice properties in Abuja traced to him. Justice Omotosho further directed that Mamman must refund the outstanding balance from the ₦22 billion traced to funds meant for the Mambilla and Zungeru hydroelectric power projects.
In the judgment, Justice Omotosho did not spare the former minister from sharp criticism, condemning his betrayal of public trust. The judge declared, “The evidence of the prosecution is overwhelming as against the scanty and almost absent defence of the defendant. The defendant did not offer any credible evidence to rebut the prosecution’s case”. In a passage that has drawn widespread attention, the judge contrasted the former minister’s lavish lifestyle with the country’s enduring power crisis: “Rather than creating a legacy to tackle the epileptic power supply in the country, the defendant was living large at the expense of ordinary citizens. Little wonder that Nigerians have remained in darkness till today”.
The conviction and sentencing of a former cabinet minister to such a lengthy prison term sends a powerful signal about the judiciary’s resolve to hold high‑profile political figures accountable for corruption. The EFCC had accused Mamman of orchestrating a scheme that bled the nation of funds meant for two critical power projects, delaying progress in a sector that has long been the bane of Nigeria’s economic development. The commission has welcomed the verdict, describing it as a major victory in its sustained campaign against graft. The case now moves to the enforcement phase: security agencies are under court order to hunt down the convicted minister, and Interpol has been notified.
For the people of Nigeria, who have endured decades of electricity shortages while successive administrations failed to deliver stable power, the judgment resonates beyond the courtroom. The 75‑year sentence may not bring light to their homes, but it offers a measure of retribution — and, perhaps, a warning to those who would plunder the nation’s resources in the dark. As Justice Omotosho made clear, the darkness that Nigerians have suffered is no accident; it is the direct consequence of choices made by those entrusted with their welfare. Now, one of those entrusted faces a reckoning that he chose to flee — but which he can no longer escape.
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