Why Tinubu Sacked Bawa As EFCC Chairman, Appoints Mohammed Abba In Acting Capacity

President Bola Tinubu has suspended the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Abdulrasheed Bawa with immediate effect.

This was announced in a statement by Willie Bassey, Director, Information in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has approved the indefinite suspension from office of Mr. AbdulRasheed Bawa, CON, as the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office.”

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“This follows weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him. Mr Bawa has been directed to immediately handover the affairs of his office to the Director, Operations in the Commission, who will oversee the affairs of the Office of the Chairman of the Commission pending the conclusion of the investigation,” the statement read.

Here are six things to know about the acting EFCC chairman.

1. Mohammed Umar Abba was born on June 22, 1965, in Tudunwada Local Government Area of Kano State.

2. Abba bagged his first degree from Bayero University, Kano. He did his one-year national service at the old Anambra State Police Command and later got enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force. He attended the Nigeria Police Academy, Kaduna State, where he was commissioned in 1992.

3. CP Abba was seconded to the Commission in January 2016 to head the Counterterrorism and General Investigations, CTGI, Section at the Headquarters in Abuja.

4. He was appointed the Director of Operations of the Commission in 2017.

5. In 2019, he was promoted to the rank of Commissioner of Police.

6. On July 9, 2020, Abba stepped in as the Acting Chairman of the Commission, being the most senior operational officer when the former chairman, Ibrahim Magu, was suspended.