Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday ordered that a former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, be remanded in Kuje prison in Abuja pending the consideration of his bail application.
Justice Omotosho gave the order at the resumed arraignment of Mamman charge with money laundering earlier stepped down by the judge.
The former minister pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which had filed a 12-count money laundering charge against Mamman.
The EFCC accused the former minister of allegedly laundered the money to the tune of N33 billion.
The former minister who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari from 2019 to 2021. was arrested on May 10, 2021, and detained at the headquarters of the commission in Abuja.
Buhari had on September 1, 2021, removed Mamman and his Agriculture and Rural Development counterpart, Sabo Nanono, in what was called a cabinet restructuring.
Mamman was accused of conspiring with staff of the ministry in charge of the accounts of the Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro Electric Power projects to divert about N22 billion.
The investigations uncovered property in Nigeria and overseas allegedly linked to the suspects, while millions of naira and dollars had reportedly been recovered.
