The Senate is currently screening the nominee for the office of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Mr. Bawa was accompanied into the Senate Chambers by his family members and political associates.
The forty-year-old nominee has worked with the anti-graft agency for 16 years and is a Certified fraud examiner and anti-money laundering expert.
Mr. Bawa told the Senate that the constitution of the country will guide his actions should he be confirmed as EFCC Chairman and promised to leave the EFCC in a better place than he met it at the end of his tenure.
According to him, “We need to repatriate all our stolen assets for the benefit of Nigerians”.
Abdulrasheed Bawa graduated from the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics (Second Class Upper) in 2001.
Bawa, who joined the EFCC as an Assistant Detective Superintendent (ADS) in 2004, also holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy which he obtained from the same university in 2012.
He was part of the pioneer EFCC Cadet Officers, course one, 2005.
He rose through the ranks to become a Deputy Chief Detective Superindent (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.
He will be taking over from Mohammed Umar, who has been in an acting capacity since July 2020 after the suspension of Ibrahim Magu over allegations of gross misconduct.
President Muhammadu Buhari on February 16, asked the Senate to confirm Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a letter to the President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the President said he was acting in accordance with Paragraph 2(3) of Part1, CAP E1 of EFCC Act 2004.
The statement added that 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, money laundering, and other economic crimes.”
He is said to have undergone several specialised training in different parts of the world and was one of the pioneer EFCC Cadet Officers in 2005.