Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been suspended by President Bola Tinubu.
Willie Bassey, Director of Information in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed the suspension in a statement on Wednesday.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,GCFR, has approved the indefinite suspension from office of Mr. AbdulRasheed Bawa, CON, as the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office.”
UPDATE: Bola Tinubu Suspends EFCC Chairman, Bawa
“This follows weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him. Mr Bawa has been directed to immediately handover the affairs of his office to the Director, Operations in the Commission, who will oversee the affairs of the Office of the Chairman of the Commission pending the conclusion of the investigation,” the statement read.
Bawa’s suspension came less than a week after the President removed Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele from office.
Anaedoonline.ng looks at some of the scandals that surrounded Bawa’s tenure as head of the anti-graft organization.
APPOINTMENT
Bawa was elected as a result of widespread dissatisfaction. When former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him to lead the agency in February 2021, there were questions about his qualifications.
JUST IN: ‘EFCC Chairman, Bawa Requested $2m Bribe From Me’ – Matawalle
Bawa was the EFCC’s youngest chairman at the time, having been appointed as Deputy Chief Detective Superintendent at the age of 40. He was the first to be appointed without being a senior member of the Nigeria Police Force.
COLLAPSES At An Event
Bawa became disoriented while delivering an address at an event hosted by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) at Aso Rock around seven months into his tenure.
“As you are aware, today is the 16th of September and it is the National Identity Day. I was invited for a programme by NIMC, specifically, by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy on September 17, 2021.
“While I was giving my good will message during the programme there was a bit of dizziness on me and I had to excuse myself from the stage,” Bawa had said in an interview he granted later that day.
EFCC Boss, Bawa Threatens To Resign, See Reason Why
CLASH WITH MATAWALLE
Bawa and the immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, recently engaged in a verbal spat, with both parties leveling serious claims against the other.
While the EFCC said Matawalle was under investigation for an alleged N70 billion scam, the former governor accused Bawa of requesting a $2 million bribe, which he denied.
BAWA’S ARREST IS ORDERED BY THE COURT
Bawa was imprisoned in February 2023 by a Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja for defying a court order.
The court also ordered the arrest of Bawa and his confinement at Kuje jail in Abuja for the next 14 days.
Rukayat Ayoola, the court, ordered that Bawa be imprisoned “until he purges himself of the contempt.”
UPDATE: IGP Ordered By Court To Arrest, Detain EFCC Chairman, Bawa
Ms Ayoola granted the committal order in response to an appeal submitted by Ali Bello accusing Bawa of breaching a court rule by proceeding to arraign him on December 15, 2022, despite an earlier court order issued on December 12, 2022.
The court decided that the arrest and imprisonment of Bello on November 29, 2022, by the EFCC and its chair in defiance of an earlier pending court order, without a warrant of arrest or being told of the offence for which he was arrested, was illegal and unconstitutional.
However, the decision to arrest Bawa was appealed.
CALL FOR EFCC CHAIR’S SACK
During a press conference in Lagos in February 2023, over 40 anti-corruption civil society organizations urged then-President Muhammadu Buhari to fire Bawa for “consistent disobedience of court orders.”
They saw that the panel had strayed from its mandate and had become politicized.
See How Nigerians Reacted As Tinubu Suspends EFCC Chairman, Bawa
According to CSOs led by Mr Debo Adeniran, Chairman of the Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Bawa has made the EFCC a “institution known for brazenly disobeying court orders in such a manner that not only undermines the institutions of Nigeria’s democracy but also indicates a contradiction to Buhari’s anti-corruption agenda.”
They urged that Bawa be fired so that the commission could “recover its past glory.”
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