KADUNA, Nigeria – Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested the fugitive former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, barely a week after a federal court sentenced him to 75 years’ imprisonment in absentia for a multi-billion Naira treasury raid.
Okay News reports that the definitive arrest occurred during a high-stakes, pre-dawn raid at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede confirmed that Mamman was tracked down and apprehended at a private residence in Kaduna. Two other individuals, accused of actively shielding the convicted former minister from federal authorities and facilitating his evasion, were also taken into custody, while the property used as a safehouse has been placed under asset investigation.
The arrest brings a dramatic close to a nationwide and international manhunt sparked by a landmark judicial ruling. On Wednesday, May 13, 2026, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted Mamman on all 12 counts of money laundering and conspiracy preferred against him by the anti-graft agency. Justice Omotosho sentenced the 68-year-old politician to seven years’ imprisonment on ten separate counts, alongside an additional five years across the remaining charges. Strikingly, the judge ordered the sentences to run consecutively without the option of a fine, culminating in a historic 75-year jail term. Because Mamman had gone completely off the radar and failed to appear for his judgment, the court issued an immediate bench warrant, directing security agencies to coordinate with Interpol to secure his capture.
Mamman, who served as Minister of Power under former President Muhammadu Buhari from August 2019 until he was dismissed in September 2021, was found guilty of masterminding the criminal diversion of ₦33.8 billion ($24.7 million). The EFCC successfully proved that the ex-minister systematically siphoned public funds originally earmarked for the construction and development of the Mambilla and Zungeru hydroelectric power projects—critical national infrastructure meant to stabilize Nigeria’s struggling national grid. The money was routed through a complex web of private shell companies and layered through Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to convert it into foreign currency, which Mamman used to acquire luxury properties in Abuja. Per the strict directives of the federal court, Mamman’s massive 75-year prison term will officially begin counting from the exact moment of his Tuesday arrest, as he is transported to a maximum-security correctional center to begin serving his sentence.
