The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, gave the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the nod to transfer the convicted former Minister of Power, Mr. Saleh Mamman, to Kuje prison.
Mamman was on May 13 sentenced to 75 years in prison for stealing public funds totaling about ₦33.8 billion.
The convict was sentenced in absentia after he jumped bail and failed to appear before the court for the conclusion of his trial.
Even though his legal team denied knowledge of his whereabouts, he was subsequently apprehended at his hideout in Kaduna State.
Meanwhile, the EFCC on Tuesday produced him before the court, which had issued a warrant for his arrest.
During the proceedings, a man, Shamsudeen Mohammed, who identified himself as a relative of the former Minister, exposed how the convict fled Abuja in a chartered taxi.
Mohammed revealed that although the ex-Minister was in Abuja within the period he was convicted, he escaped to Kaduna State two days after he was sentenced.
He, however, added that Mamman was very sick and needed medical attention, which he could not receive from a hospital for fear of being arrested.
“I was helping him to take his traditional medicine. He was brought by taxi from Abuja to Kaduna,” the convict’s relative added.
