Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed how the commission intervened in 2024 to stop a contractor mobilised by the Ministry of Power from executing a contract with fake and substandard transmission lines.
Meanwhile, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, yesterday, admitted additional documentary evidence in the ongoing trial of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, over alleged N31 billion fraud.
The EFCC boss made this disclosure in Abuja yesterday when the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Olusegun Adesayo, visited him at the commission’s corporate headquarters.
According to him, the contractor was investigated by the EFCC and found to have imported fake transmission lines, which could have posed a danger to the entire nation.
“In 2024, we had cause to write to the Ministry of Power to blacklist a contractor when we investigated and confirmed that he imported fake and substandard power transmission lines for the execution of a contract given to him,” he said.
This intervention by the commission reportedly saved the nation from a potential disaster as well as loss of lives and valuables.
Olukoyede assured the MEMSA delegation of EFCC’s readiness to work with it for better electricity supply for the nation.
Earlier in his remarks, Adesayo stated that the visit was to forge collaboration with the commission towards ensuring safety standards in the power industry and to emphasise the commitment of his agency to transparency and accountability.
He assured Olukoyede of internal reforms in MEMSA that would see to improved probity in the agency and commitment to aligning with the federal government’s anti-corruption agenda.
The trial judge in the contract case, Justice Maryann Anenih, accepted a set of financial documents tendered by EFCC as part of its case against Mamman and seven others, who are facing a nine-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence and intent to defraud.
EFCC alleged that the defendants were involved in fraudulent transactions amounting to N31,070,541,349.64.
At the resumed hearing, the second prosecution witness, Leadu Kpandei, a compliance officer with Guaranty Trust Bank, told the court that the anti-graft agency had, in March 2025, requested details of the account of Fullest Utility Concept Ltd. She said the bank complied by forwarding account opening documents, identification records and statements of account.
Earlier, the first prosecution witness, Umar Abba, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, concluded his cross-examination.
He told the court that he generated the defendants’ account statements from the bank’s system, verified and signed them before forwarding the records to the EFCC.
During proceedings, defence counsel Suleiman Mohammed drew the court’s attention to a pending application filed on March 9, 2026.
Justice Anenih indicated she would review the application and adjourned the matter till April 16, May 11 and June 4, for continuation of the trial.
