How ex-minister Mamman spent N20m Mambilla project fund on one-year hotel lodging – Witness

A prosecution witness has told the Federal High Court in Abuja how a former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, allegedly spent N20 million from the funds earmarked for the Mambilla Hydro Power project on payment for lodging in a resort over a period of one year.

The trial presided over by the judge, James Omotosho, continued on Wednesday with the cross-examination of the third prosecution witness, Adebisi Adesanya, a retired colonel.

The cross-examination followed the testimony of the witness on Tuesday when he disclosed how the money was spent.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Mr Mamman on 12 counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering to the tune of N33.8 billion in public funds.

The EFCC captured the highlights of the proceedings in a Wednesday night statement.

Mr Adesanya, the Chief Security Officer and owner of Sami Court Resort Limited, where Mr Mamman allegedly paid N20 million for a one-year lodging, was, on Tuesday, led in evidence by prosecution lawyer, A.O. Mohammed.

“Sami Court Resort Limited is a service apartment where people come to lodge and stay for a long time – one month, two months, a year,” adding that “You only book in with your clothes, then any other thing is serviced by the apartment.”

He also said he was invited for questioning by the EFCC on 8 September 2023 regarding inflows from accommodation and lodging into the United Bank for Africa (UBA) account of the resort over the period spanning from 2019 to 2021.

He identified Exhibit PWC as the invoice issued to Mr Mamman by the resort after his payment of N20 million for lodging, covering the period between August 30, 2021 and August 30, 2022.

“This is our company’s invoice. We issued it after the payment of N20million with respect to lodging and accommodation for Engineer Saleh Mamman,” he said.

Giving a breakdown of the lodging inflows from Mr Mamman as contained in Exhibit PWC, he said , “On 6 September 2021, the inflow was N5 million, deposited by Golden Bond Nigeria Limited for the period covering 30 August 2021 to 30 August 2022 and the name of the lodger is Engineer Saleh Mamman. The second column is on 23 January 2022, being N5million payment deposited by Mintedge Nigeria Limited to cover from 30 August 2021 to 30th August 2022.

“The third column is 9 March 2022, and the amount is N2,500,000, payment by Abdullahi Suleiman and it is to cover the period of 30 August 2021 to 30 August, 2022 for Engineer Saleh Mamman. And the last one is on 10 May 2022, and the amount is N7, 500,000 deposited by A.I.J Global Tools Limited over the period covering 30th August 2021 to 30th August 2022 and the name of the lodger is Engineer Saleh Mamman,” he said.

The witness further said that the payments by Mr Mamman were just for one bedroom rental, all made through the resort’s UBA account.

“The documents are our invoices in respect to payment for one bedroom rental from 30 August 2019 and August 2020 and the amount is N20 million.”

The trial judge, Mr Omotosho, adjourned the case till 13 January 2025 for continuation of trial.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Mamma’s arrest in May last year was linked to alleged diversion of funds from the accounts dedicated to the Mambilla Hydro Electric Power Project during his stint as the minister.

This newspaper also reported that Mr Mamman was sacked alongside then Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Sabo Nanono, on 1 September 2021, in what the presidency described as a fallout of the president’s move to “reinvigorate this cabinet in a manner that will deepen its capacity to consolidate legacy achievements.”

READ ALSO: Court sends ex-power minister to prison over alleged N33.8 billion fraud

Removal of ministers and appointees was generally a rarity during the administration of President Buhari.

On a few occasions when that happened, it involved massive infractions that were too weighty to overlook.

Curious members of the public had speculated that the reason for sacking Mr Mamman within two years of his appointment was likely to be more than cabinet reshuffling.