Abdulrasheed Bawa was picked by President Muhammadu Buhari to chair the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, read a letter from President Buhari seeking confirmation of Bawa as EFCC chairman.
Here are 10 things to know about the EFCC chair nominee.
1. Abdulrasheed Bawa is a 40-year-old EFCC officer from Jega local government area of Kebbi State.
2. He attended Model Primary School Birnin-Kebbi Road, Sokoto where he obtained his primary school certificate in 1991, and Government Secondary School, Owerri for his Senior Secondary School Certificate in 1997.
3. Bawa obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics and Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto in 2001 and 2012 respectively.
4. He is one of the pioneer EFCC cadet officers, Course One 2005.
5. He is a trained Economic and financial crimes investigator with vast experience in the investigation and prosecution of Advance Fee Fraud, official corruption, bank fraud and money laundering. The EFCC chair designate is Certified by Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS).
6. Bawa had a steady rise in his career from Assistant Detective Superintendent (2004) to Deputy Detective Superintendent (2007), Senior Detective Superintendent (2010), Principal Detective Superintendent (2013) and Deputy Chief Detective Superindent (2016).
7. The newly apppointed EFCC boss was also at various times Head, Advance Fee Fraud Section Team L (the first EFCC Regular Detective to be appointed a Team Head), Abuja Zonal Office; Head, Counter Terrorism and General Investigation/Pension Unit, Lagos Zonal Office; Zonal Head, Ibadan Zonal Office (comprising Oyo, Osun,Ekiti, Ondo and Kwara States); Zonal Head, Port Harcourt Zonal Office (comprising Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia States); and Head, Capacity Development Division EFCC Academy, Abuja, a position he held until his appointment as EFCC chair.
8. He is the head of EFCC team investigating former Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and associates (From October 2015 till date) which recovered millions of dollars worth of properties in Nigeria, UK, USA, and UAE, including 92 properties in Nigeria.
9. He was involved in investigation and prosecution of several other notable cases such as Atlantic Energy Group (2014-2015) where millions of dollars worth of properties in Nigeria, UK, USA, Switzerland, UAE and Canada were recovered; Crude Oil Swaps and OPA (2014-2015), were several billions of Naira were recovered; and the Petroluem Subsidy Fraud (2012-2015) where fraud of about N70billion was identified, several billions of Naira recovered and prosecuted several companies.
10. He is a recipient of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Merit Award (2020); US Federal Bureau of Investigation (U.S. Department of Justice) Recognition Award (2019), for facilitating the collaboration between EFCC and the FBI, which resulted in a mutual fight against Economic and Financial Crimes on an international scale; and US Federal Bureau of Investigation (Criminal Investigative Division) Appreciation (2019) in recognition of his support and contribution in FBI’s Operation rewired, which resulted in nearly 209 arrests worldwide.
