The Department of State Services (DSS) has reportedly recovered over N580 million from the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended Bawa indefinitely as the chairman of the EFCC in June “to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office” following “weighty allegation of abuse of office leveled against him.”
Bawa was taken into custody by the DSS on June 14, hours after his suspension by the President and has since remained there.
The DSS has been pressured to either release Bawa or charge him with offences the secret police’s investigation has found that Bawa committed.
In August, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) threatened to sue President Tinubu’s administration over the continued detention of Bawa by the DSS without arraignment for proper charges.
Also, on Wednesday, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, knocked President Tinubu’s administration over the continued detention of Bawa and the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, without trial.
“It is indefensible to keep the EFCC Chairman and the CBN governor under arrest for extended periods of time without or before trial, just as it is also unacceptable that political parties are used to intimidate and harass citizens exercising their opinions in the public domain,” Lawal said in his statement.
But in the latest development, the DSS told reporters that Bawa has coughed up over N580 million illegally acquired during his time as the head of the agency.
“Over N580 million has been retrieved from the incarcerated former chairman of the anti-graft agency, EFCC,” the source said.
