Former Energy Minister Saleh Mamman Breaks Down in Court – TrendyNewsReporters

There was a minor disturbance at the Federal High Court in Abuja today, July 11, after former Energy Minister in the Buhari administration, Saleh Mamman, collapsed shortly before his case was due to go to court.

Mamman, who held the office from 2019 to 2021, is facing a 12-court trial on charges of money laundering to the tune of N33 billion while in office. He was arrested on May 10, 2021 and detained at the anti-corruption agency’s headquarters in Abuja. On September 1, 2021, Buhari sacked Mamman. He was accused of conspiring with ministry staff in charge of accounts of the Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro Electric Power projects to siphon off about N22 billion. Investigations uncovered properties in Nigeria and abroad allegedly linked to the suspects, while millions of naira and dollars were reportedly recovered.

Just before being summoned for the preliminary hearing this morning, the former minister’s lawyer, Femi Ate, SAN, told the presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho, that his client had fainted.
The judge, however, said that due to the workload in the court files, the preliminary hearing could only be scheduled for the end of September. The former minister’s lawyer then withdrew his oral request for an adjournment. Olumide-Fusika said he had just filed an amended charge in the morning following a mistake in the name of the accused and prayed that the new charge be read to Mamman to accept his guilty plea, but Judge Omotosho did not agree with him.
The judge, however, asked Mamman if he was fit enough to stand his guilty plea today, and he replied in the affirmative. The former minister explained to the court that he collapsed outside the courtroom because of the drugs he had taken when he had not eaten, and while he was outside the courtroom waiting to be called, his blood pressure dropped.
The former minister told the court that he had drawn his counsel’s attention to the mistake made by the EFCC regarding the name in the chargesheet against him.
“I was complaining about the name, which wasn’t mine,” he said.

Judge Omotosho then adjourned the preliminary hearing until 1 p.m. today.