Nigeria’s former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, has been sentenced to 75 years’ imprisonment on Wednesday by Federal High Court in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the diversion of funds meant for Nigeria’s major hydropower projects.
Penpushing reports that the judge, James Omotosho, convicted and sentenced Mamman on 12 charges of N33.8 billion fraud, attracting varying years of imprisonment that are to run consecutively.
The judge sentenced Mamman to seven years’ imprisonment on counts 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, without option of fine, also sentenced him to a three-year jail term on Count 4 with an option of a N10 million fine and two years’ imprisonment on Count 5 without the option of a fine.
The judge ordered that the sentences attracted by each of the 12 counts run consecutively, not concurrently, adding because the sentences will run consecutively, Mamman faces a total prison term of 75 years.
Penpushing further reports that the 68-year-old former minister was sentenced in absentia, while the judge earlier found Mamman guilty in a judgement delivered on May 7, 2026, while he was also absent from court when the guilty verdict was delivered, prompting the judge to order his arrest and set Wednesday for his sentencing.
The authorities as at the time of filing this report had yet to arrest the former minister, leaving the judge with no option but to proceed with sentencing, in the Wednesday sentencing ruling the judge ordered that the jail term shall take effect from the day the convict is arrested.
Penpushing also reports that Omotosho equally directed all security agencies to arrest Mamman wherever he is found, and equally ordered the forfeiture of all the funds and properties recovered from Mamman to the Nigerian government.
The court in same vein, ordered him to refund the outstanding balance from the alleged N22 billion linked to the Mambilla and Zungeru projects, while it is recalled that the case against Mamman, stemmed from his tenure between 2019 and 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Penpushing reports that it was the period during he oversaw Nigeria’s power sector and major federal hydroelectric projects, including the Mambilla and Zungeru power projects, while the anti-graft agency said he conspired with ministry officials and private companies to divert funds allocated to the projects.
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