Ex-minister Sale Mamman arrested over alleged N22bn fraud

Former minister of power Sale Mamman

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested former minister of power Sale Mamman over an alleged N22 billion fraud.

Mamman was taken in early Wednesday and was subsequently detained at the headquarters of the anti-graft agency, reports PUNCH.

Mamman is accused of conspiring with the ministry’s staff in charge of the accounts of the Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro Electric Power projects and diverted N22 billion, which they shared among themselves.

The agency has reportedly linked cash and property in Nigeria and abroad to the suspects.

The EFCC had yet to release a statement to that effect as of press time.

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Mamman in August 2019 and sacked him on September 1, 2021.

In 2020, Mamman alleged that there was a cabal in his ministry denying Nigerians electricity.

He was reacting to the criticism which trailed his suspension of some top officials in the ministry.

Mamman had suspended the former managing director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Damilola Ogunbiyi; and the managing director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Marilyn Amobi, pending an investigation into allegations levelled against them.