The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday adopted a resolution that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chairmanship nominee, Abdulrasheed Bawa will be screened at plenary.
The red chamber took the resolution after the executive’s communication on the nomination of Bawa was announced by the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan.
The development is a departure from the past, where nominees of President Muhammadu Buhari would first pass through Senate Committee scrutiny before a revert report is turned in for consideration by Committee of the whole.
The Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, said, screening will hold at the plenary in line with the tradition of the Senate.
He said: “The screening of the Chairman of EFCC will be done in the plenary in keeping with our tradition.”
President Buhari had nominated Abdulrasheed Bawa as substantive Chairman of the EFCC and asked the leadership of the National Assembly to confirm the appointment.
In a letter to the Senate President, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the President said he was acting in accordance with Paragraph 2(3) of Part1, CAP E1 of EFCC Act 2004.
Bawa, 40, is a trained EFCC investigator with vast experience in investigation and prosecution of Advance Fee Fraud cases, official corruption, bank fraud, money laundering, and other economic crimes.
He has undergone several specialized trainings in different parts of the world, and was one of the pioneer EFCC Cadet Officers in 2005.
Bawa holds a B.Sc degree in Economics, and Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy.
The last screening of the anti-graft boss was in the 8th Senate during the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki which turned down the appointment of Ibrahim Magu as a result of the controversial security report about him.
