Power: Tinubu Moves Against Buhari’s Men

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has started cleaning the Augean stables left by his Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor.

Just barely two weeks in office as president and Commander-in-Chief the former Lagos governor who came to power on May 29, has taken some bold steps to prove that he wants to be his own man.

If anyone is in doubt of this, watchers of the Presidency insist, the indefinite suspension of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, by the president on Wednesday, is a pointer that the incumbent has started asserting himself.

Bawa, according to a statement released by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, yesterday, was suspended for abuse of office, including graft allegations against him while he presided over the affairs of the agency.

The statement read, “President Tinubu has approved the indefinite suspension from office of AbdulRasheed Bawa, CON, as the Chairman, Economic, and Financial Crimes Commission to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office. This follows weighty allegations of abuse of office leveled against him.

“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. “

Bawa was directed to handover immediately to the most senior official in the agency.

The president had earlier suspended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele on allegations bordering on terrorism financing and economic sabotage.

Emefiele and Bawa have since been arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, for further investigations.

The duo was appointed by former President Buhari, and those close to the former government informed the magazine that they enjoyed the confidence of the former Nigerian leader.

Their removal from office, therefore, some say is a pointer that President Tinubu does not want to have anything to do with the legacies left by Buhari, that he wants to be his own man, even though he promised during his inauguration that he would continue where his predecessor stopped.

According to those monitoring what is going on in the polity, this is just the beginning of the president’s plan to weed out some government appointees under Buhari who have lost public trust, particularly, those who have corruption allegations hanging on their necks.

For instance, Bawa, before his suspension was accused by a former governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle of demanding a $2 million bribe from him, to compromise corruption allegations against the former governor.

The former EFCC boss has also been accused of living beyond his means as a government official.

On his part, Emefiele was punished for two major reasons; the botched Naira swap policy, that threw the country into a serious financial crisis early this year, and his involvement in partisan politics contrary to constitutional provisions.

Not a few Nigerians accused Emefiele of deliberately introducing the failed Naira Swap policy, to punish Nigerians after his bid to succeed former President Buhari failed to materialise.

Recall also that Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress,  APC, presidential candidate at the time accused Emefiele of targeting him with the policy.

Therefore, the removal of Emefiele was not unexpected by those who have followed his trajectory since he became the boss of the government-owned bank in 2014, particularly after Buhari re-appointed him for a second term in office against popular public opinion.

This cannot be said of Bawa who many had thought would manage to remain in office, despite the very serious allegations that he used his office to enrich himself.

But some sources who spoke with the magazine on his suspension, said embattled EFCC boss may have offended some APC stalwarts who wants him punished for his action.

“Apart from Matawalle,  other governors and APC bigwigs have reported him to President Tinubu. You remember his problem with Governor Yahaya Bello and former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje. May be, he could have survived under Tinubu, at least for some time, what really nailed the EFCC  boss is that he is also not clean,” a Presidency source said

Meanwhile, another source informed the magazine on Thursday that “more heads’ will still roll in government “as the president is planning to bring in those that fit into his agenda.”