An exciting thing about the newly appointed Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, is his plans to enable Nigerians have access to information on EFCC operations, through digitalization. According to him, he would work towards the digitalisation of the operations of the commission.
He once revealed that the commission recorded 216 convictions on cases prosecuted in court during his stay as Port Harcourt Zonal Officer. Bawa said the EFCC secured convictions for over 90 per cent of all cases prosecuted in court. He said there was a need to equip the EFCC Academy in line with modern-day realities of fighting financial crimes.
Before his confirmation, as the new helmsman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), many observers were confident that Abdulrasheed Bawa would fit perfectly into the role.
The reasons are not far-fetched; Abdulrasheed Bawa has proven himself as a confident and diligent officer of the anti-graft agency, who investigated some top-notch cases in the country. Abdulrasheed Bawa, a Nigerian detective and law enforcement agent came on board as the Chairman, EFCC on 24th February, 2021. Bawa who was formerly zonal head of the anti-graft agency will now replace Mohammed Umar who has been acting chairman of the EFCC since the suspension of Ibrahim Magu over corruption allegations in 2020.
Until his appointment, he was the Deputy Chief Superintendent of the anti-graft agency.
His appointment came following a two-hour screening exercise in the plenary which was presided over by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan. The sitting served Bawa various questions concerning “past experiences, his relationship with his predecessors as well as his plans for the new position he has been appointed for” from about 15 lawmakers.
His appointment makes Bawa the youngest chairman of the EFCC as well as the first EFCC chairperson who was not previously a police officer.
40-year-old Bawa is a trained EFCC investigator with vast experience in the investigation and prosecution of Advance Fee Fraud cases, official corruption, bank fraud, laundering & other economic crimes.
Bawa has vast investigation experience and has been part of the prosecution of advance fee fraud, official corruption, bank fraud, money laundering, and other economic and financial crimes related offences. He headed the investigations of Crude Oil Swaps and OPA cases from 2014 to2015, also leading to the recovery of assets.
He also supervised the investigations of Atlantic Energy Group-from 2014 to 2015 leading to the recovery of assets in Nigeria, the UK, USA, Switzerland, UAE and Canada.
He has also participated in several other periodic raids on “notorious (419) Cyber-cafés”, the sort of operations from which the EFCC records the lion share of its convictions
Abdulrasheed Bawa, is a graduate of the prestigious Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics (Second Class Upper) in 2001. He joined the EFCC as an Assistant Detective Superintendent (ADS) in 2004.
40-Year-old, Bawa also holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy which he obtained from the same university in 2012. His rich resume states that the new anti-graft boss has spent about 16 years working with the EFCC as a detective, and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of London.
He was part of the pioneer EFCC Cadet Officers, course one, 2005, as he rose through the ranks to become a Deputy Chief Detective Superintendent (DCDS), a position he has been holding since 2016 up till the time of his nomination as the anti-graft agency’s substantive chairman.
He has vast investigation experience and has been part of the prosecution of advance fee fraud, official corruption, bank fraud, money laundering, and other economic and financial crimes related offences.
The Jega, Kebbi State born detective in October 2015 was appointed to head the commission’s investigations of Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources and her associates. He has been part of the prosecution of advance fee fraud, official corruption, bank fraud, money laundry and other related crimes.
He was trained by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FINCEN), and United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC)
During his services as the EFCC zonal head of Portharcourt Zonal Office and Lagos Zonal Office, he has successfully investigated and testified in prosecution of many cases leading to convictions and recovery of looted funds. He headed the investigations of Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke from 2015 to 2019 that led to the recovery of millions of dollars and properties.
He takes cue from international crimes and fraud units such as The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as INTERPOL; Federal Bureau of Investigation; National Crime Agency; and Security products distribution center.
