Former EFCC Chairman, Bawa, Loses Mother

By Adesina Soyooye

A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has lost his mother.

Bawa was one of Hajiya Hadiza Ahmed Bawa’s 10 children. He was, also, the first original civilian staff of the EFCC to lead the Commission.

Bawa was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2021 to replace Ibrahim Magu who was suddenly   arrested, detained, probed by a Panel headed by a former President of the Court of Appeal, the Honourable Justice Ayo Salami.

Magu was redeployed to the Force Headquarters, and  the report of the Panel’s investigation is till date, not public. Instead, Magu, who at the time was a Commissioner of Police, was promoted to the rank of an Assistant Inspector General of Police, on which rank he retired at the age of 60 years.

Unfortunately, Bawa, Magu’s successor ended up same way. He was suspended from office by President Bola Tinubu in July 2023, after which he was detained by the Department of State Services, DSS, for many months, and finally released. No word was heard as to why he was detained, investigated and unceremoniously removed from office.

But just before he was sacked, he had had a running battle with then Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, now Minister for State, Defence, over allegations and counter allegations of corruption involving both men.

One of the allegations in one petition against Bawa was that he took over 18 family members, including his now late mother to Saudi Arabia for religious obligations, and quartered all of them at the high profile Sheraton Hotel. The trip, allegedly, cost millions of  Naira.

A grieving Bawa confirmed his mother’s passing in a short statement. “Yes, it’s true, I lost my mother.”

His mother’s body, according to reports, will be transported to Kebbi State where the Bawas hail from  for interment according to Muslim rites.