Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has on Wednesday absolved its new Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, of corruption allegations.
Bawa, who currently heads the Lagos zonal office of the commission, was on Tuesday, nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari for Senate confirmation as the next substantive chairman of the anti-corruption agency.
However, shortly after, reports of the 40-year-old being involved in corruption, particularly diversion of properties emerged.
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The reports claim Bawa was arrested and removed from his position as Port Harcourt zonal head of the commission for allegedly diverting 224 forfeited trucks.
The diversion of forfeited trucks was one of the allegations levelled against former EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu, which was brought before Justice Ayo Salami-led probe panel.
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Bawa was also said to have appeared before the panel over the issue but said he had no hand in the auction of the assets as it was supervised by a different department.
EFCC, has now reacted to these accusations in a statement on Wednesday, saying its new head has had no corruption record.
Spokesman of anti-graft agency, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, in the statement titled, ‘Abdulrasheed Bawa Has No Corruption Record – EFCC’, described the media report about Bawa’s alleged corruption record as illogical.
He stated;
The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to a report by an online publication, Peoples Gazette, alleging that Mr Adulrasheed Bawa, the Chairman-designate of the Commission, was arrested and detained by the Agency under former Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, over illegal sale of 244 forfeited trucks to proxies in Port Harcourt.
The publication claims that the illegal sale was uncovered by the suspended Secretary to the Commission, Ola Olukoyede, who alerted the former chairman, Ibrahim Magu, leading to Bawa’s detention and subsequent redeployment to the EFCC Academy, Abuja.
The Commission wishes to state categorically that, Mr 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, which remit such matters reside.
For the avoidance of doubt, the disposal of finally forfeited trucks in the Port Harcourt Zonal Office through a public auction was conducted after the exit of Bawa as Zonal Head. It is therefore illogical for him to have been indicted over an auction that was not superintended by him.
