Ex-power minister Saleh Mamman appeals 75-year sentence over N33.8bn fraud

Former Minister of Power Saleh Mamman has approached the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, seeking to quash his conviction on 12 counts linked to an alleged N33.8 billion fraud, for which he was handed consecutive prison terms totalling 75 years by the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Through a notice of appeal dated 26 May 2026, filed by his legal team led by Femi Atteh, SAN, Mamman is asking the appellate court to set aside the judgement and discharge and acquit him.

The appeal rests on 18 grounds, chief among them a claim that his right to fair hearing was violated when judgement was delivered in his absence on 7 May 2026, despite an earlier adjournment to 9 June 2026 for judgement.

His team argues that the date was abridged without any hearing notice being served on him, that he never waived his right to be present, and that this breached Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 352(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

Other grounds raised in the appeal include claims that the trial judge blocked his subpoenaed witness, Abdulkareem Ozi Ibrahim, from testifying in his defence, while improperly allowing the prosecution to reopen examination-in-chief of the same witness after it had already closed and the matter had been adjourned for cross-examination.

The conviction relied substantially on uncorroborated accomplice evidence and on counts 7–12 to which no plea was ever taken.

The trial court wrongly found that funds from the Zungeru and Mambilla hydroelectric power projects were diverted for his personal use, when the funds were domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria and controlled by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, with Mamman neither an approving authority nor a signatory to the accounts.

Key findings rested on hearsay, disregarded documentary evidence, and amounted to speculation.

The court improperly shifted the burden of proof onto him by holding that he failed to explain the source of funds used to purchase a property at No. 12 Lungi Street, Wuse II, Abuja.

His extra-judicial statements were admitted without compliance with Sections 15 and 17 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, including the absence of any audio-visual recording of the statements.

The trial judge showed clear bias against him throughout the proceedings, occasioning a miscarriage of justice.

The appeal comes as the Federal High Court struck out a separate motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking to forfeit properties allegedly linked to Mamman.

Justice James Omotosho struck out the motion dated 29 July 2026 and filed under Section 20 of the EFCC Act 2004, Section 321 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution – in charge No FHC/ABJ/CR/273/2024 – after prosecution counsel Abba Mohammed formally withdrew it.

Mohammed told the court that the withdrawal followed Mamman’s appeal against the entire judgement.

The motion had sought a consequential order to permanently forfeit to the Federal Government properties the EFCC said it traced to Mamman after his conviction and sentencing. Defence counsel Femi Atteh did not oppose the withdrawal, and Justice Omotosho granted the application as prayed, striking out the motion in a brief ruling.

The conviction and 75-year sentence have drawn strong criticism from Mamman’s family and legal representatives, who have described elements of the trial as troubling. They pointed to the accelerated delivery and service of the judgement as particularly concerning, alongside earlier defence complaints over disputed documentation, witness contradictions, disclosure issues and what they called weak evidentiary links – concerns they say warrant further legal scrutiny.

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