The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested fleeing convicted ex-power minister Saleh Mamman sentenced to 75 years imprisonment.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, made the disclosure during a press conference at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
Mr Olukoyede said Mr Mamman was arrested in Kaduna State on Tuesday.
He noted that the former minister was arrested alongside two suspects accused of harbouring him in Rigasa, Kaduna State.
“We’re glad to let you know that a former minister of power, Saleh Mamman who was convicted and sentenced, has been arrested at about 3:30 am this morning,” Mr Olukoyede said.
He noted that the ex-minister was hiding in a safe space in the northwestern state.
Mr Olukoyede added, “He was being harboured by some two individuals in Rigasa, Kaduna State, and we arrested them too, because it is an offence to harbour a convict,”
The Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on May 13 sentenced Mr Mamman, who was on the run to 75 years in prison for stealing public funds totalling ₦33.8 billion.
The court earlier issued an arrest warrant for the convict who was absent in court the day he was sentenced.
During Mr Mamman’s sentencing, his lawyer Mohammed Ahmed, who announced his appearance for the convict, told the court that he did not know the whereabouts of the former minister.
He also noted that calls made to Mr Mamman’s phone failed to connect.
Following the sentencing, Justice James Omotosho ordered the EFCC and other security agencies to liaise with Interpol to ensure Mr Mamman’s arrest.
Mr Omotosho also held that the former minister’s sentence should start running from the day of his arrest.
The court, in a judgment delivered by Mr Omotosho, convicted and sentenced Mr Mamman on all 12 counts of fraud and money laundering levelled against him by the EFCC.
While he was handed seven years sentence each on 10 counts of the charge, the judge also sentenced him to three years and two years imprisonment on counts four and five of the charge respectively.
Mr Omotosho held that the sentence should run consecutively without option of fine except on count four which he allowed the payment of N10 million fine.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of various foreign currencies that were recovered from Mr Mamman, as well as four choice landed property in Abuja which were traced to him.
Mr Mamman’s conviction was earlier announced by Mr Omotosho on May 7, 2026, in the absence of the former minister who has been on the run.
Mr Omotosho said the court was satisfied that the EFCC successfully established Mr Mamman’s culpability beyond reasonable doubt.
The trial judge convicted the former minister on all grounds in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/273/2024.
Mr Mamman, who served in the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, was found complicit in the illegal diversion of public funds totalling ₦33.8 billion.
The court found that Mr Mamman made a cash payment of $655,700 (equivalent to ₦200 million) for landed property in Abuja, without recourse to a financial institution.
He was also found guilty of criminal breach of trust in relation to funds released by the federal government for the Mambilla and Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant projects.
The court noted that most of the funds were siphoned through Bureau de Change operators (BDCs), who converted the money into foreign currencies and handed it over to the defendant.
“The evidence of the prosecution is overwhelming as against the scanty and almost absent defence of the defendant.
The defendant did not offer any credible evidence to rebut the prosecution’s case,” Mr Omotosho held.
The trial judge decried that the defendant, as minister of power, was not bothered about leaving a lasting legacy.
“Rather than creating a legacy to tackle the epileptic power supply in the country, the defendant was living large at the expense of ordinary citizens,” Mr Omotosho said, adding that “Little wonder that Nigerians have remained in darkness till today.”