Ex-EFCC boss Bawa sacked over misdemeanors makes comeback with new book on subsidy thieves

Abdulrasheed Bawa, a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is making a comeback into public consciousness with the release of his new book on the ugly subsidy scam. Paradoxically, Bawa himself had left the anti-graft commission under a haze of alleged corruption. President Bola Tinubu, in 2023, suspended Bawa from the EFCC, just as he (Tinubu) ended the subsidy scam that became a conduit pipe for fraudulent oil marketers to siphon public funds while claiming payment for unsupplied imported refined fuel.

Bawa’s book, titled ‘The Shadow of Loot & Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud’, will be released on June 5, according to TheCable.

Bawa, in his book, reportedly ‘detailed how the petrol subsidy scheme was used to syphon public funds, drawing from his experience as a key investigator on the EFCC’s special team that probed the 2012 subsidy fraud.’ The book at the same time revealed how billions of naira were recovered from several culprits, who were also prosecuted.

‘Bawa detailed the strategies deployed to engage in the fraud, including ghost importing and over-invoicing; manipulation of bills of lading; round-tripping and double claims; and diversion and smuggling.

‘The ex-EFCC chairman explained that the practices were enabled by forged documents, weak regulatory oversight, and systemic collusion between corrupt government officials and private sector actors,’ the report added.

TheCornet News reports that the excitement and optimism that greeted Bawa’s appointment in February 2021 fizzled into disappointment with his unceremoniously sack in June 2023.

• Adeola Atanda