President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the Senate to confirm Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This was contained in a statement issued by Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity) on Tuesday.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, confirmed this when he read Buhari’s letter during Tuesday plenary.
In a letter to President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, President Buhari justified his action by citing Paragraph 2(3) of Part1, CAP E1 of EFCC Act 2004, which empowers him.
Adesina’s statement disclosed that Bawa, 40, is a trained EFCC investigator with vast experience in the investigation and prosecution of Advance Fee Fraud cases, official corruption, bank fraud, money laundering, and other economic crimes.
The statement continued that Bawa has undergone several specialized trainings in different parts of the world, and was one of the pioneer EFCC Cadet Officers in 2005.
Bawa holds a B.Sc degree in Economics, and Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy.
Lawan said: “The EFCC Chairman will be screened at plenary, in keeping with our tradition.”
Buhari, in his letter, said the nomination of Bawa was in keeping with paragraph 2(3) of Part 1, CAP E1 of the EFCC Act 2004.
The former Acting Chairman of the anti-graft body, Ibrahim Magu, was screened twice in plenary during the 8th Senate but was never confirmed.
Magu was suspended from office by President Buhari in July 2020 and since then the position had remained vacant while the commission’s Director of Operations, Mohammed Umar, was directed to carry out the functions of the office in acting capacity.