Bawa Honours DSS’ Invitation Hours After Suspension

• Abdulkarim Chukkol now acting EFCC chair

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

Suspended Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, last night, honoured an invitation by the Department of State Services (DSS), hours after he was asked to stay off work indefinitely by President Bola Tinubu.
A statement by DSS’ spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunanya, confirmed that Bawa arrived the DSS headquarters last night.
The statement said, “The Department of State Services (DSS) has invited Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Bawa arrived a few hours ago. The invitation relates to some investigative activities concerning him.”
The DSS had recently blocked the 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi office of EFCC in Lagos with Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) over ownership of the property. The agency was later directed by Tinubu to vacate the premises immediately and find amicable ways of resolving the matter, saying such needless rivalry would no longer be tolerated on his watch.
But Tinubu, yesterday, suspended Bawa, indefinitely.
A terse statement from the office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, said Tinubu approved Bawa’s suspension to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office.
“This follows weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him,” the statement said. It added, “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.”
Subsequently, Abdulkarim Chukkol was instructed to take over in acting capacity.
“He has been directed by President Tinubu to take over the affairs of the commission, being the Director of Operations, after the suspension of Abdulrasheed Bawa,” a follow-up statement said.
Unlike his predecessors, Bawa own case appears to be enmeshed in twists and turns. Recall that he was the architect of the controversial naira redesign and currency swap policy implemented in the last months of the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Bawa had, allegedly, sold the idea to Buhari, who got the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement the policy.
The suspended EFCC chairman had purposed that the policy would help to curb money laundering, banditry, and other criminal activities involving illegal movement of funds.

And to a large extent, it did.
But Tinubu and many of his supporters never hid their aversion to the monetary policy, which they believed was targeted against the then All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate. They saw the dual crises of naira and petrol scarcity at the time as contrived to hurt Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
Tinubu said during the campaigns, “Even if they said there is no fuel, we will trek to vote. They have a lot of mischief. They could say there is no fuel. This one, too, they think they can cause a crisis by sabotaging the fuel supply.
“They are sabotaging fuel supply. Whether there is fuel or not, whether there is Okada (motorcycle) or not, whether there is tricycle or not, we will go and vote and we shall win. This is a superior revolution and when I tell you, you know what I mean. You know me; we are going there to win.
“They have been scheming to create a fuel crisis, but forget about it. Relax. I, Asiwaju, have told you that the issue of fuel supply will be permanently addressed.”
The general suspicion following Bawa’s suspension is that the Tinubu camp may be taking their pound of flesh over his role in the Naira redesign and currency swap policy of the last administration.
Nonetheless, except for the first chairman of the agency, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, others, from Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Farida Waziri (rtd), to Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Ibrahim Lamorde (rtd), AIG Ibrahim Magu (rtd), and now Bawa, all left office amid allegations of impropriety.
Bawa was the fourth executive chairman of EFCC. He was appointed by Buhari on February 16, 2021, and was confirmed by the senate on February 24, 2021.
Bawa’s ascension to office was a departure from his predecessors, who were all appointed from the Nigeria Police. He was the only head of EFCC that emerged from the agency.
Immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, accused Bawa of demanding $2 million from him. He made the accusation in an interview with BBC Hausa Service.
But the agency, at a media briefing, said the accusation was triggered by an ongoing investigation of Matawalle over alleged monumental corruption involving the theft of about N70 billion from Zamfara government coffers.
The coalition alleged that Bawa “operates like an emperor”, using his office to “intimidate, harass and force” people, financial institutions, and other government agencies to do his bidding with backing from his godfather in the corridor of power.

History of Controversies

Nuhu Ribadu
The first chairman of EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, at a point fell out of favour with the powers that be in December 2007 and was forced out of office two weeks after he tried to prosecute a powerful governor and close associate of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

In a widely publicised ousting, he was forced out of a graduation ceremony by security operatives at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Plateau State. He was demoted by the police and then retired.

Farida Waziri
Farida Waziri’s appointment in May 2008, shortly after Ribadu’s removal, was clouded by allegations that she was sponsored by some former governors to cover up their money laundering and fraud charges before the commission. Waziri was accused of failing to secure convictions for high profile cases involving former governors already instituted by her predecessor.

Ibrahim Lamorde
Ibrahim Lamorde replaced Waziri on November 23, 2011, as acting chairperson of EFCC. He became embroiled in controversy in 2015 after the senate alleged that $5bn (£3.2bn) had gone missing at the EFCC.

Ibrahim Magu
Ibrahim Magu was also suspended as chairman of EFCC. He was first appointed as acting chairman of the commission in November 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari. The senate refused to confirm Magu as chairman of the agency due to “security reports” by law enforcement agencies. He was also said to have had a public spat with then Attorney General of the Federation and Minister OF Justice, Abubakar Malami. The DSS, in a 2016 report, alleged that Magu was living in a N40 million mansion.