Ex-Power Minister Mamman Gets 75 Years, Then Tries to Run

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested former Power Minister Saleh Mamman today in Rigasa at 3:30am, after he was sentenced to 75 years in prison for corruption. This man thought he could simply disappear after the court handed down the verdict. The EFCC had to drag him out of hiding like a common criminal.

The court found that during his tenure under former President Muhammadu Buhari, at least $14 million meant for electricity infrastructure was siphoned through proxy companies and associates. The judge described this as a gross abuse of public trust and ordered that the sentences on each of the 12 counts run consecutively, not concurrently. That is the key detail — consecutive sentences mean he will actually serve meaningful time, not the usual slap on the wrist where they serve two years and walk free.

This is the kind of toughness we rarely see in Nigeria's judiciary. A former minister convicted and actually facing real consequences. But let me ask you this: how many more Saleh Mammans are still walking free today? And will the EFCC recover the $14 million or just lock him up while the money remains in some proxy's account?