EXPOSED: How Newly Nominated EFCC Boss, Bawa, Was Detained For Alleged Multi-billion Naira Fraud In 2019

Abdulrasheed Bawa, the chairman-designate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arrested and detained by the anti-graft agency in 2019 for selling at least 244 trucks worth between N20-30 million each to his proxies at N100,000 per unit.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday asked the Senate to confirm Bawa as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to confirm Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“In a letter to President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the President said he was acting in accordance with Paragraph 2(3) of Part1, CAP E1 of EFCC Act 2004,” a statement by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, read.

According to Peoples Gazette, Bawa’s handling of dozens of petrol-bearing trucks that were confiscated from suspected looters deprived the country of at least N4.88 billion in potential loot recovery.

The new EFCC chairman who was then in charge of the Port Harcourt zonal office abruptly auctioned the trucks in 2019 to his proxies at “ridiculous prices”.

“If you take a conservative approach and multiply the trucks by N20 million each, even though some were far above that price, you will arrive at N4.88 billion for the 244 trucks he sold out,” the newspaper quoted a senior EFCC official as saying.

“So Bawa is being compensated for ensuring that nearly N5 billion did not go into the public treasury.”

While some of the 244 trucks have been declared as proceeds of corruption by the Federal High Court, the newspaper learnt that forfeiture proceedings on most of them had yet to be concluded before Bawa sold them off.

Angered by the move, Ola Olukoyede, then EFCC secretary, confronted Bawa about the whereabouts of petrol tankers that were under forfeiture by the Port Harcourt zonal office in late 2019.

Olukoyede had received complaints that the deputy chief detective superintendent was tampering with seized assets that were still undergoing forfeiture proceedings in court.

“It is illegal to take possession of a citizen’s assets without a due process, which involves getting a federal judge to declare such assets as proceeds of public loot.

“He was asked to explain what happened to over 240 trucks that the zonal office was trying to secure their forfeitures, But he was unable to explain,” a source said.

The source said Bawa initially told Olukoyede that he got the directives to sell the trucks from the then acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, but he declined to write that claim in his statement.

“It turned out that he was just dropping names, or he was trying to protect Magu,” a source said.

“He refused to write it in his statement that it was Magu who sent him.”

The source said Olukoyede immediately called Magu, who was away on an official trip at the time, with details of what transpired in Port Harcourt. After concluding his findings, Olukoyede returned to Abuja, expecting Magu to take action upon his return from the trip.

When Magu returned, it was learnt he made an urgent trip to Port Harcourt, and Bawa was removed as the zonal head the next day.

“He was ordered to be detained in Port Harcourt for several days,” another source familiar with the matter said.

“He was then asked to report at the training school in Abuja, which we thought would be the end of his career.”

As a member of the elite ‘Course 1’, EFCC’s first set of cadets now mostly at grade-level 13, Bawa has flaunted his association with Magu, and once acclaimed himself ‘anointed leader’ of the so-called ‘Magu Boys’.

Magu led the EFCC from November 2015 until his disgraceful ouster on July 7, 2020. He was accused of grossly enriching himself while arresting and prosecuting other Nigerians for graft.

Corruption

Scandal

News

AddThis

Original Author

SaharaReporters, New York

Disable advertisements

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS

from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/3as1E8U
via EDUPEDIA

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja. Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...

EDUPEDIA247

Search This Blog