Why Bawa must remain as EFCC Chairman – CSOs

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Friday defended the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, against calls for his sack, insisting the commission under Bawa had ramped up the fight against corruption and made unprecedented recoveries.

National President Campaign for Dignity in Governance (CDG), Razaq Olokoba, at a press conference in Lagos on behalf of the coalition stated that there has been a spike in conviction and recovery across all zones of the country under Bawa.

“For example, between 2016 and 2019, the number of convictions secured rose from 195 to 1, 280 and by 2021 the figure had hit an unprecedented 2,220, a value amounting to 98.47 percent of all cases brought before the court of law,” he said.

“In the same year, over N150bn was recovered, with recovery in other currencies such as USD386m, 1.182m pounds and 156,000 Euro,” he said.

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Daily Trust Saturday reports that some CSOs had demanded the sack of Bawa, accusing him of not obeying court orders and engaging in media trials of suspects.

But the Coalition made up of six CSOs including Centre for Social and Economic Rights (CSER), Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), among others dismissed the call for Bawa’s sack, noting that the 2022 recovery was even “more startling for the forces of corruption” as total number of convictions in the year was 3,785.”