Keypoints
- The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested fleeing former Minister of Power Saleh Mamman in Kaduna State.
- Operatives apprehended the convict in the Rigasa area following weeks of intensive surveillance and intelligence gathering.
- Mamman went underground after being convicted in absentia by the Federal High Court in Abuja on corruption charges.
- The court found the former minister guilty of siphoning N22 billion meant for the Zungeru and Mambilla hydroelectric projects.
- Justice James Omotosho sentenced the former public official to a cumulative jail term of 75 years imprisonment.
Main Story
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a fleeing former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, in the Rigasa area of Kaduna State.
Speaking on the arrest, Executive Chairman of the EFCC Ola Olukoyede disclosed that the former minister went underground after he was convicted by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on corruption charges.
He maintained that getting the convict to serve his jail terms is extremely important in view of the seriousness with which the commission is tackling corrupt practices, indicating that operatives deployed intensive intelligence tracking to apprehend him in the early hours of Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
To penalize the structural theft of public utility funds, Justice James Omotosho found Mamman guilty on all 12 counts bordering on the diversion of funds meant for the Zungeru and Mambilla hydroelectric power projects.
He noted that the EFCC successfully established that Mamman and his associates siphoned not less than N22 billion using proxy companies and associates, describing the act as a gross abuse of public trust.
Consequently, after the convict failed to appear for sentencing on May 13, 2026, the court sentenced Mamman to consecutive jail terms totaling 75 years, while he concurrently faces another separate N31 billion fraud trial before the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
The Issues
- High-profile convicts fleeing judicial jurisdiction complicates the immediate enforcement of anti-corruption sentences.
- The systemic diversion of multi-billion naira infrastructure funds severely delays national grid stabilization and hydroelectric output.
- Tracking underground fugitives requires extensive inter-state surveillance networks and heavy deployment of anti-graft tactical resources.
What’s Being Said
- Executive Chairman of the EFCC Ola Olukoyede stated that “On May 7, 2026, Justice James Omotosho found Mamman guilty on all 12 counts bordering on diversion of funds meant for the Zungeru and Mambilla hydroelectric power projects. The court convicted him in absentia after agreeing with the Commission that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.”
- Highlighting the agency’s operational commitment, he added that “For us, getting the convict to serve his jail terms is extremely important in view of the seriousness with which we are tackling corrupt practices. It is this resolve that made us deploy intelligence to tracking and arresting the convict.”
- Legal briefs confirmed that the agency “will process his transmission to the Correctional Centre accordingly” to ensure the enforcement of the judicial mandate.
- Judicial records held that the prosecution successfully established that the ex-minister and his network “diverted not less than N22 billion meant for the execution of critical power projects.”
- Trial metrics noted that the bench “sentenced Mamman to seven years imprisonment each on Counts 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 without an option of fine,” alongside smaller terms running consecutively to total 75 years.
What’s Next
- Anti-graft operatives will process Mamman’s immediate transmission to a Nigerian Correctional Centre facility to begin serving his 75-year sentence.
- State prosecutors will prepare the convict for transport to his ongoing secondary corruption trial before Justice Maryanne Anenih of the FCT High Court.
- Assets recovery teams will initiate the formal forfeiture tracking of infrastructure funds siphoned through proxy firms linked to the former minister.
Bottom Line Ending weeks of strategic evading, the EFCC has apprehended former Power Minister Saleh Mamman in Kaduna following his in-absentia conviction and 75-year sentencing for siphoning N22 billion from Nigeria’s critical Zungeru and Mambilla hydroelectric power projects.
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