A couple of hours after President Bola Tinubu suspended, indefinitely, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa from office, the former Chairman has joined the, also, suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.
If Emefiele’s suspension from office and his detention by the DSS were expected, that of Bawa was totally unexpected. The only inkling that, perhaps, ”the groud may not be level” for Bawa was the near-ugly incident which happened between the DSS and EFCC Operatives in the office premises which both had shared for years, but which officially belongs to the DSS.
About 48 hours after the swearing-in of Tinubu as President, Operatives of the DSS blocked Operatives of the EFCC from entering the premises. While the EFCC took the incident very seriously in a statement issued by its Spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the DSS Spokesperson, Dr Peter Afunanya, casually dismissed it, and asked if it was ever in dispute that the property is that of the DSS.
Within 24 hours of the incident, President Tinubu intervened and asked the DSS to vacate the blocked gate and allow the EFCC entry.
It, therefore, came as a surprise when the President ordered the indefinite suspension of Bawa from office on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.
In a statement from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation signed by Willie Bassey, Bawa was asked to handover, immediately, to the EFCC Director of Operations who will act as the Chairman until the end of the serious weighty allegations against Bawa.
Within two hours of his suspension, Bawa was invited by the DSS to report to its office. He complied.
According to Afunanya, Bawa’s invitation by the DSS “relates to some investigative activities concerning him.” He, also confirmed that “Bawa arrived a few hours ago.”
Nobody knows, yet, what the allegations against Bawa are for which he is facing investigations. Recall, however, that the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, had alleged, a few days before the end of his tenure, that Bawa had asked him for bribe to the tune of two million US Dollars to discontinue an investigation against him, Matawalle. He said he had evidence to prove it.
Bawa had denied the allegation in a statement signed by Uwujaren and asked Matawalle for proof. The EFCC was set to take Matawalle into custody as soon as he left office. Ironically, it is Bawa who is now in custody.
There is, also, the other allegation of Bawa traveling to Saudi Arabia for a religious obligation with several members of his family which, allegedly, cost an obscene amount of money, especially, as they, allegedly, all stayed in a posh hotel – Sheraton.
Abba Takes Over from Bawa
Already, the EFCC Director of Operations, Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Umar Abba, has assumed office as the Acting EFCC Chair.
A graduate of Bayero University, Kano, Abba was born on June 22, 1965. He was appointed the EFCC Director of Operations in 2017.
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