N33bn Fraud: Abuja court sends ex-minister Mamman to Kuje prison

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday remanded former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, in Kuje Correctional Centre.

That was after Mamman pleaded not guilty to a 12-count amended charge bordering on money laundering offences.

Mamman would remain in detention pending the hearing of his bail application.

The arraignment of the former minister, which was earlier fixed for Thursday morning, could not go on due to Mamman’s ill health and the matter was stood down till 1 p.m.

Mamman was reported to have collapsed outside the courtroom before the case was called.

The former minister’s counsel, Ate, informed Justice Omotosho shortly after the matter was called for arraignment.

The ex-minister, who walked into the courtroom and stepped into the dock with part of his clothes drenched when the matter was called in the morning, said he was poured water when he slumped.

The EFCC had filed a 12-count money laundering charge against Mamman.

He was alleged to have committed money laundering offences to the tune of N33 billion.

The former minister served under former President Muhammdu Buhari from 2019 to 2021.

On May 10, 2021, he was arrested and detained at the headquarters of the anti-graft agency in Abuja.

Buhari had, on September 1, 2021, sacked Mamman and the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, in what was called a cabinet restructuring.

Mamman was accused of conspiring with staff of the ministry in charge of the accounts of the Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro Electric Power projects to divert about N22 billion.

The investigations uncovered property in Nigeria and overseas allegedly linked to the suspects, while millions of naira and dollars had reportedly been recovered.