…Issues warrant for his arrest
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday, convicted a former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman on a 12-count charge of money laundering to a tune of N33.8 billion preferred against him by the federal government.
In a judgement delivered by the trial judge, Justice James Omotosho on Thursday, the court held that the prosecution, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been able to prove its case against the former minister beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.
The judge held that, the prosecution has established that, at least, N22 billion was siphoned by the defendant and his cronies, saying that, “This is sufficient to sustain the charge. Consequently, the defendant is hereby convicted of Count 1 of the charge.
“The defence did not offer any credible evidence to rebut the evidence of the prosecution. Upon the unchallenged evidence of the prosecution, the court hereby convicts the defendant of Count 1 of the charge,” Justice Omotosho held and added that Mamman’s act of diverting funds meant for other purposes such as the Zungeru and Mambila Hydroelectric Power Project to his own use was quite an eyesore.
Delivering the judgement, the judge resolved all the three issues raised by Mamman against him.
The judge said, “The defence in this case attempted to recall PW-2 to testify for the defendant after the said PW-2 was cross examined and discharged by this court. This attempt by the defence is without doubt a strange procedure as it is liable to put the court in a position where it has to choose which of the evidence of PW-2 to believe.
“Where the court permits such, then there is no way to know if the defence would recall all the other 16 witnesses for the prosecution as its own witnesses. The defence had the chance to cross examine PW-2 and elicit any evidence it desired.
“It cannot be allowed to make a mockery of the justice system by turning around to call the same PW-2 as its own witness. This is a ridiculous notion which this court will not accord any dignity to.
“The intention of the Defence is not to clear ambiguities but to rubbish the evidence of PW-2 and waste the time of this Court.
“No miscarriage of justice has occurred as a result of prohibiting PW-2 from being recalled. Consequently, this issue is resolved in favour of the prosecution,” he said.
PW-2, Abdulkarim Ozi Ibrahim, is an official of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Treasury House, where he serves as the director of the Federal Projects Financial Management Department.
On the issue of non-production of the books of PW-9 and PW-11 showing how and who they handed over cash to after their accounts were credited, the judge said the defence did not have the secondary evidence of the books to make a notice to produce useful information in the case.
Besides, he said to make matters worse, the prosecution is at liberty to tender whichever evidence it deems fit.
“Now a notice to produce is useful where a party intends to tender the secondary evidence of a document. This is according to Section 91 of the Evidence Act. Consequently, this issue is resolved in favour of the prosecution,” Justice Omotosho held.
The judge equally held that on the issue of the objection that the amended charge was incompetent, the prosecution is generally empowered to amend or even frame a new charge and that same will be allowed by the court in line with Sections 216 and 217 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.
On the substantive issue, Justice Omotosho observed that the burden on the prosecution to establish the guilt of a defendant is quite a heavy burden to discharge, which the EFCC had been able to do beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge observed that some of the EFCC’s witnesses gave evidence on how monies budgeted for the power project were moved under disguised on the instruction of the ex-minister.
The judge said: “PW-9, Abdullahi Suleman is a Bureau De Change operator who has been operating for about 25 years.
“According to him, he has several companies which he transacts with, including Prymint Investment and the other companies linked to the defendant.
“PW-9 stated that he knows one Maina Goje who is in the same business with him. He said Maina Goje usually approaches him and asks for his account number which he uses to purchase dollars.
“He said Maina Goje began requesting for more accounts and same were used to purchase US Dollars. He stated that the transactions in question commenced in 2019 and continued until 2024, with a total value of approximately N22 billion.”
“The sheer greed of the defendant and his comrades in crime is nothing but a downright shameful thing. For a defendant, who held a critical position such as Ministry of Power, rather than being concerned with creating a legacy of solving the epileptic power supply in the country, the defendant began siphoning and converting monies for serious projects into private pockets.
“The defendant was living large at the expense of ordinary Nigerians who had suffered from the consequence of his malfeasance. Little wonder that Nigeria has remained in darkness now,” the judge said.
According to Justice Omotosho, “I must say the defendant was ingenious in trying to hide his involvement by using proxy companies and accomplices to pick the funds for him.
“However, the diligent investigation of the prosecution was able to link him to the said funds. This court must salute the detailed nature of the investigation carried out in this matter and for presenting a coherent and cogent case against the defendant.
“The defendant on the other hand is condemned for greedily converting public funds to his own use.
“In final analysis, the prosecution has established the 12-count charge against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt.
“Consequently, he is hereby convicted as charged,” Justice Omotosho held.
The judge lambasted the convicted former minister of living large when he was Minister at the expense of Nigerians, saying that his action was part of what is keeping Nigerians in darkness now.
Shortly after Mamman was found guilty of the 12-counts charge and convicted accordingly, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN prayed the court to issue a warrant for the arrest of the convict, who was absent in court when the judgement was delivered without any reason.
Oyedepo, who is also the Director Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), the law gives the court power to impose sentence when a defendant is arrested or surrendered himself to court.
Oyedepo, while urging the court for the warrant of arrest, said, the defense failed to provide credible evidence, like a medical report to back up the claim that the convict is sick.
When the case was called, counsel to the convict, Mohammed Ahmed told the court that he had no access to the his client since Tuesday that, he got the notice of the judgement.
He however, begged the court for an adjournment to enable his client present himself and that, if he failed to present himself at the next adjourned date, the court can them issue a warrant for his arrest
But when the judge asked Ahmed when he felt the defendant could be contacted to appear in court, the lawyer said he would contact the ex-minister’s personal assistant.
He said, one of the associates of the convict informed him that the former minister is sick and this, the reason for his absence in court.
Justice Omotosho ordered that the ex-minister should be produced in court in the next adjourned date by the EFCC for sentencing and then adjourned the matter till May 13 for the defendant to be sentenced, having been found guilty as charged.
The Commission, in July 2024, arraigned Mamman on alleged money laundering and conspiracy with officials at the ministry and some private companies to “indirectly convert” the sum of N33.8 billion meant for the Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro Electric Power projects.
The former minister, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and EFCC, in proving its case, called 17 witnesses and also tendered 43 exhibits against the defendant before closing its case.
However, Mamman, through his lawyer, Femi Atteh, SAN, did not call any witness in his defence and instead filed a no case submission, which the court had, in a ruling delivered in December last year dismissed.
While delivering the ruling, the judge held that the prosecution, the EFCC had established a prima facie case against the former minister adding that, the evidence presented was sufficient for the defendant to provide explanations or mount a defence, particularly considering the seriousness of the allegations.
Mamman, who was appointed Minister of Power by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2019 and later relieved of his duties in September 2021, is facing a 12-count amended charge brought by the EFCC.
END
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