The trial of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, continued on Thursday, April 10, 2025, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, with the prosecution presenting further evidence in a trial-within-trial to justify the admissibility of the extra-judicial statements of the defendant, who claimed that he volunteered them under duress.
Mamman is facing prosecution in relation to the Mambilla Power Project by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on a 12-count charge, bordering on conspiracy to commit money laundering to the tune of N33,804,830,503.73 (Thirty-Three Billion, Eight Hundred and Four Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Five Hundred and Three Naira, Seventy-three Kobo).
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Abubakar Muhammed Kwaido an EFCC investigator maintained that Mamman made his statements to the Commission without intimidation or force.“There was at no point I harassed or intimidated him with detention. My boss was even asking him if he could write, but he said he would ask his lawyer to write on his behalf,” he said.
In a video clip of Mamman’s statement to the Commission which was played in court, the defendant was seen clarifying to investigators in a convivial atmosphere that he chose to avoid payment for an Abuja property through financial institutions to evade detection, considering his position in the government.
