Nigeria’s foremost anti-corruption agency has apprehended former Power Minister Saleh Mamman, who had evaded justice for over a week following a landmark court verdict that handed him a 75-year prison sentence for corruption.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced that Mamman was detained on Tuesday, May 19, in Kaduna State — the culmination of weeks of sustained surveillance and intelligence operations mounted after the ex-minister went into hiding rather than face the consequences of his conviction.
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An Abuja court earlier this month found Mamman guilty on 12 separate counts related to corruption tied to two hydroelectric power projects. Prosecutors successfully established beyond reasonable doubt that Mamman and his associates diverted a staggering 22 billion naira — approximately $14 million — from funds earmarked for critical national electricity infrastructure.
The court further established that the scheme involved a web of proxy companies and carefully chosen associates deployed to siphon public resources.
Because Mamman failed to appear for the delivery of judgment, the court proceeded to convict and sentence him in absentia. With each of the 12 counts carrying prison terms running consecutively, the cumulative sentence reached 75 years.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede made clear that the agency had no intention of allowing Mamman to escape the weight of the law. Speaking on the arrest, Olukoyede framed the case as emblematic of Nigeria’s intensifying push to hold powerful political figures accountable for the mismanagement of public funds.
Mamman’s legal troubles do not end with his conviction. He faces a separate, ongoing corruption case before another Abuja court involving allegations linked to 31 billion naira. That court had already issued an arrest warrant against him earlier this month after he similarly failed to appear for proceedings — a pattern of calculated evasion that ultimately proved unsustainable.
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Mamman served as Nigeria’s Minister of Power between 2019 and 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, a period during which the country’s electricity challenges remained deeply entrenched.
His arrest has reignited fierce public debate over the rot that critics say has long undermined Nigeria’s energy sector. Despite holding some of Africa’s most substantial energy generation potential, Nigeria continues to be plagued by chronic and debilitating power outages.
Millions of households and businesses across the country remain dependent on expensive fuel-powered generators — a private-sector workaround that has become a symbol of the systemic failure that cases like Mamman’s are increasingly being seen to represent.
For many Nigerians, the sight of a former power minister being hunted down and arrested over diverted electricity funds is not merely a legal milestone — it is a measure, however overdue, of accountability in a sector that has cost the country dearly.