EXCITEMENT IN EFCC OVER BAWA’S NOMINATION AS CHAIRMAN

war had suffered so much mismanagement under the Buhari administration.

The forum lamented that despite a probe of Bawa's alleged theft of confiscated proceeds of ill-gotten loot at his previous appointment in Port Harcourt, the president still chose him as Magu's replacement.

The leaders also alleged that the investigation into Bawa’s alleged corruption and a crackdown on Magu

and other ex-senior officials of the EFCC were yet to be concluded when he was nominated for the top job in Lagos.

EFCC: Bawa Not Involved in Fraud

But the EFCC last night denied reports that Bawa illegally sold forfeited trucks to proxies in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The agency was reacting to a publication by an online news medium, Peoples Gazette, alleging that Bawa was arrested and detained by the agency under the former acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, over illegal sale of 244 forfeited trucks.

The report claimed that the illegal sale was uncovered by the suspended Secretary to the Commission, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, who alerted Magu, leading to Bawa’s detention and subsequent redeployment to the EFCC Academy in Abuja.

But the EFCC spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, said Bawa was never arrested or detained over the sale of any assets.

‘As Zonal Head of the Port Harcourt Office of the Commission in 2019, Bawa’s responsibilities did not include the sale of assets as the commission has a full-fledged Directorate of Assets Forfeiture and Recovery Management, in which remit such matters reside,” said the statement titled, ‘Abdulrasheed Bawa has no corruption record – EFCC.’

The anti-graft agency explained that the disposal of the forfeited trucks in the Port Harcourt Zonal Office through public auction was conducted after the exit of Bawa as the zonal head.

“It is, therefore, illogical for him to have been indicted over an auction that was not superintended by him,” the commission stated.

The statement read, “The auction of trucks at the Port Harcourt Office was among the issues examined by the Justice Ayo Salami Panel, leading to the suspension of some officers of the commission.

“The commission, therefore, enjoins the public to disregard the false publication, which is believed to be sponsored by mischief-makers to impugn the integrity of the EFCC chairman-designate.”