Former Nigerian Power Minister Starts 75‑Year Sentence

A former Nigerian minister has been transferred to prison to begin serving a lengthy sentence for corruption. Saleh Mamman, the former Minister of Power, was ordered to the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja on Tuesday by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court. Mamman was convicted and sentenced in absentia earlier this month for money laundering involving approximately 33.8 billion naira.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission presented Mamman before the court on Tuesday, following his arrest in Kaduna on May 19. The court ordered the immediate commencement of his 75-year prison term. Justice Omotosho informed Mamman that his sentence would run from that day, noting that the former minister had been in Abuja when his judgment was passed but had subsequently traveled to Kaduna alone by taxi.

During the proceedings, a relative of Mamman, Shamsudeen Mohammed, explained to the court that Mamman had traveled to Kaduna due to illness. Mohammed stated he was helping Mamman take traditional medicine and said the apartment where Mamman stayed in the Rigasa area of Kaduna was rented, and he did not know the owner. Mamman himself told the court he had stayed away from...