Biography
Abdulrasheed Bawa is a law enforcement agent, a detective and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
He was born on 30 April 1980. Abdulrasheed Bawa is 43 years old as of 2023.
The anti-graft agency boss is the first substantive chairman without a background in the Nigerian Police Force and the youngest to occupy the office since its inception.
Education
Bawa had his elementary education at Model Primary School Birnin-Kebbi Road, Sokoto, before heading to Government Secondary School, Owerri, for his secondary education.
Later, he proceeded to Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, where he bagged a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. Bawa then also earned a Master’s degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the same university
Abdulrasheed also has a Laws degree from the University of London
Career
Bawa started his career with the EFCC in 2004 as a member of the Cadet Officer Course 1, and trained at the Nigeria Police College Ikeja, Lagos. He was a member of the pioneer EFCC Cadet Officers, course one, 2005.
He rose through the ranks to become a Deputy Chief Detective Superintendent (DCDS), a position he held before being nominated as the substantive chairman of the anti-graft agency.
As the head of the EFCC’s investigations of Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke from 2015 till date, his team has recovered millions of dollars worth of property in Nigeria, the U.K., the U.S.A, and U.A.E, including 92 of such assets in Nigeria.
Bawa headed the Counter-Terrorism and General Investigation/Pension Unit of the Lagos Zonal Office in 2017
He was then transferred to head the Ibadan Zonal Office of the EFCC, covering Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Kwara states from June 2018 to January 2019.
After he left the Ibadan Zonal office, he was transferred to head the Capacity Development Division, EFCC Academy, Abuja from December 2019 to August 2020.
His next stop after the EFCC Academy was to head the agency’s zonal office overseeing Rivers, Bayelsa and Abia state operations in Port Harcourt. He held the position from January 2019 to December 2019 before he was deployed to head the EFCC operation zonal office in Lagos.
Before becoming the boss, Bawa had 17 experience as a detective with the EFCC by, involving in the prosecution of advance fee fraud, official corruption, bank fraud, money laundering and other economic and financial crimes-related offences.
In February 2021, he was appointed the fourth Executive Chairman of the EFCC by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR and was confirmed by the Senate in the same month.
Relationship
There is no public information about Bawa’s wife and children
Net worth
SPY NIGERIA cannot independently verify Abdulrasheed Bawa’s net worth
Achievements
Bawa has a track record of conducting successful investigations and presenting testimony that has resulted in convictions and the recovery of embezzled funds and assets all over the world.
Between 2014 and 2015, he handled the Atlantic Energy Group’s investigations, which resulted in the recovery of assets in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada. During the same period, he was in charge of the investigations into the Crude Oil Swaps and OPA cases, which resulted in the recovery of assets.
Abdulrasheed was part of the team investigating the Petroleum Subsidy Fraud between 2012 and 2015, where he helped identify a fraud worth about N70 billion. Many companies were brought to trial, and funds were recovered.
He also played a key role in investigating a former Governor of Niger State, Muazu Babangida Aliyu, on a corruption trial. Additionally, he has taken part in numerous operations against cybercafes that are notorious for 419 scams. These operations have resulted in many convictions, contributing to the EFCC’s success in this area.
Controversy
In 2020, an online source reported that Abdulrasheed Bawa was arrested and detained by the EFCC in 2019 when he was in charge of the Port Harcourt zonal office for selling at least 244 trucks worth between N20-30 million each to his proxies at N100,000 per unit.
The EFCC, in a statement, however, denied the allegation against its chairman.
