The FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Monday issued a warrant for the arrest of convicted former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, over his absence from proceedings in a ₦31 billion fraud trial involving him and six others.
Mamman’s absence from court on Monday forced the judge, Maryanne Anenih, to postpone proceedings until Thursday.
This is the second warrant of arrest issued against Mamman in days, since May 7 when another court, the Federal High Court in Abuja, convicted him of ₦33.8 billion fraud in a separate corruption trial.
Mamman was unceremoniously removed by then-President Muhammadu Buhari after his about two-year stint in office, from August 2019 to September 2021.
Trial judge, Maryann Anenih, ordered Mamman’s arrest on Monday after the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Rotimi Oyedepo, requested an order for his arrest and the continuation of the trial despite his absence.
“Application granted to proceed without the first defendant and application for bench warrant granted,” the judge ruled.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Mamman alongside seven others on nine counts of conspiracy, false pretence and intent to defraud to the tune of ₦31 billion.
His co-defendants are Mustapha Abubakar Bida, Joseph Omotayo Adewunmi, Ben Nsikak, Stephen Ojo, Oladipo Adebowale, Michael Achua and Ogunjobi Olusila.
On October 16, 2025, the EFCC arraigned the defendants before the court, where they all denied the allegations.
All the defendants, except Mamman, were in court on Monday.
This is the second corruption case involving the former power minister. Both cases, one of which ended in Mamman’s conviction last week, centre on the diversion of billions of naira meant for power projects.
On May 7, the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him of ₦33.8 billion fraud.
His absence from court prompted trial judge James Omotosho to order the former minister’s arrest and postpone his sentencing until May 13.
Mamman’s defence team tried to explain his absence from court on grounds of ill health. But the excuse did not sway the prosecution and the judge, who ordered the former minister’s arrest and directed that he must be produced in court on May 13 for sentencing.
On Monday, prosecution lawyer, Oyedepo, informed FCT High Court judge Anenih that the pending arrest warrant issued by the Federal High Court’s Justice Omotosho last week had yet to be executed.
The judge asked Mamman’s lawyer, Femi Atteh, SAN, to explain to the court why his client was absent.
However, Atteh said, “I do not know where he is. The DPPF told us at the Federal High Court that our client is now the state’s property,” following the order of his arrest by the court last week.
Atteh noted that the DPPF had a duty to produce Mamman.
Responding, Oyedepo maintained that he had never abdicated his duty as an officer of the court, adding, “A defendant without reasonable justification absconded from trial, so the client is still very much in his custody.”
But Atteh disagreed with the accusation of hiding Mamman. Oyedepo then said, “The warrant issued by the Federal High Court has yet to be executed as the defendant is still in hiding.”