A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Saleh Mamman, former Minister of Power under the administration of immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, to be remanded in Kuje prison pending the consideration of his bail application.
Justice James Omotosho made this decision on Thursday, July 11, after Mamman was arraigned on a 12-count charge of money laundering offences.
The Punch reported that Mamman pleaded not guilty to the charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The prosecuting lawyer, Olumide Fusika (SAN), requested a date for the trial’s commencement. Meanwhile, the defendant’s lawyer, Femi Ate (SAN), had filed a bail application, which was served on the prosecution around 12:30 pm.
Why court did not hear Mamman’s bail application
However, the court noted that the application was not yet in its file, and Ate requested to present the bail application the next day, which did not face opposition from Fusika. The judge adjourned the hearing till Friday, July 12, and ordered Mamman’s remand in Kuje correctional centre.
The former minister, who his lawyer claimed is ill, appeared dejected as he stepped out of the dock after the judge’s pronouncement. As the court considers his bail application, Mamman’s fate now hangs in the balance.
Mamman served as minister of power under Buhari’s administration between 2019 and 2021. The former president sacked him alongside his counterpart in the agriculture and rural development ministry, Sabo Nanono. In May 2023, the EFCC arrested him.
