TheCable

Sale Mamman, former minister of power, has been arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with an alleged N22 billion fraud, TheCable understands.

Mamman, who was a minister under President Muhammadu Buhari from 2019 to 2021, was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday and is being detained at the headquarters of the anti-graft agency in Abuja, sources in the know told TheCable.

The arrest is connected to investigations into alleged corruption in the execution of some power projects.

Mamman is accused of conspiring with staff of the ministry in charge of the accounts of the Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro Electric Power projects to divert N22 billion and share among themselves.

The investigations uncovered properties in Nigeria and overseas allegedly linked to the suspects, while millions of naira and dollars have reportedly been recovered.

President Muhammadu Buhari on September 1, 2021, sacked Mamman and Sabo Nanono, the minister of agriculture and rural development, in what was called a cabinet restructuring.

In 2020, while still serving, 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 Damilola Ogunbiyi, former managing director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), and Marilyn Amobi, managing director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), pending an investigation into allegations levelled against them.

However, some critics accused him of ethnic bias.