Alleged N33.8bn Fraud: Witness Claims Mamman Spent N20m on Resort Lodging

The trial of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, continued on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, with Justice James Omotosho presiding. The focus of the session was the cross-examination of the third prosecution witness (PW3), Colonel Adebisi Adesanya (retd.).

This cross-examination followed the testimony of the witness on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, where he revealed that the former minister spent N20 million from funds allocated for the Mambilla Hydro Power project on lodging at a resort over the span of one year.

Mamman is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 12-count charge related to conspiracy to commit money laundering, amounting to N33,804,830,503.73 (Thirty-three Billion, Eight Hundred and Four Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Five Hundred and Three Naira, Seventy-three Kobo).

During his testimony on Tuesday, Colonel Adesanya, the Chief Security Officer and owner of Sami Court Resort Limited, where Mamman allegedly paid for his one-year lodging, explained that the resort offers long-term accommodations. He described it as a service apartment where guests stay for extended periods, such as one or two months or even a year. He emphasized that guests only needed to bring their clothes, as all other services were provided by the apartment.

The witness further disclosed that he was questioned by the EFCC on September 6, 2023, regarding payments made into the United Bank for Africa (UBA) account of the resort for lodging services from 2019 to 2021. He identified Exhibit PWC, an invoice issued to Mamman after his payment of N20 million for lodging from August 30, 2021, to August 30, 2022.

“This is our company’s invoice,” the witness testified. “It was issued after the payment of N20 million for lodging and accommodation for Engineer Saleh Mamman.”

He then provided a detailed breakdown of the payments made by Mamman, which were listed in Exhibit PWC. The breakdown included the following:

• On September 6, 2021, a payment of N5 million was made by Golden Bond Nigeria Limited for the lodging of Mamman from August 30, 2021, to August 30, 2022.
• On January 23, 2022, Mintedge Nigeria Limited deposited N5 million for the same lodging period.
• On March 9, 2022, a payment of N2.5 million was made by Abdullahi Suleiman for the same lodging period.
• On May 10, 2022, A.I.J Global Tools Limited deposited N7.5 million for Mamman’s lodging over the same period.

The witness clarified that these payments were specifically for a one-bedroom rental, all of which were made through the resort’s UBA account.

In response to cross-examination questions from defense counsel, Femi Atteh, SAN, the witness acknowledged that, as the resort’s Chief Security Officer, he was involved in overseeing security operations but did not play a role in managing financial transactions.

Justice Omotosho adjourned the case until January 13, 2025, for the continuation of the trial.