The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has described Abdulrasheed Bawa as a “world class crime buster” whose services as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are greatly needed to advance the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday sent the nomination of 40-year-old Bawa to the Senate for confirmation, saying the request was in accordance with paragraph 2 (3) of Part1, CAP E1 of EFCC Act 2004.

Reacting in a statement, the NYCN said the nomination “signals a positive turn in the war against corruption” and must therefore be urgently considered for approval by the Senate.

It said Bawa’s appointment was not only a great win for Nigerian youths, but goes further to remind young Nigerians to always be prepared to take the position of leadership.

In the statement signed by its president, Solomon Adodo, the NYCN also commended Buhari for headhunting Bawa for the EFCC top job, describing the appointment as the “biggest masterstroke” in his administration’s effort to crush the monster called corruption.

The NYCN said, “We have diligently looked through the untainted records of this great and young compatriot who has risen through the ranks of the EFCC. No one can better understand the workings of the Commission than a young officer who has spent all his career years within the establishment beginning from the point where the Commission was set up with its unique mandate to halt the negative tide of financial crimes.

“It is imperative to stir to the memory of all discerning observers that Mr. Bawa has been strongly averse to any act of corruption or financial crime, he has fought with all determination against this hydra headed monster even at the risk of threats to his life, unfounded attempts to blackmail him and several concerted smear campaigns against this world class crime buster.

“Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa has been assigned several sensitive investigations to head including the Diezani Allison-Madueke case between 2015 to Date which resulted in the recovery of Millions of Dollars worth of properties in Nigeria, U.K., U.S.A, and U.A.E including 92 properties in Nigeria; the Atlantic Energy Group case between 2014 to 2015 where he Recovered Millions of Dollars worth of properties in Nigeria, UK, USA, Switzerland, UAE and Canada; the highly controversial Crude Oil Swaps and OPA case between 2014 to 2015, again he recovered Billions of Naira for the Federal Government putting an end to a hemorrhagic loss revenue.

“Through diligent investigation, Mr. Bawa was able to unearth the Petroleum Subsidy Fraud between 2012 and 2015 N70Billion, recovered Billions and several companies were prosecuted duly. It may be recalled that several men hitherto identified as men of integrity (including Members of the House of Representatives) could not resist the massive bribes and inducement from the subsidy cabal, Mr. Bawa however remained unbended and rather put the nation first. At all his duty posts, the records bear it clear that the sole and singular focus of this fearless fighter against corruption has been to ensure that all traces of financial crimes are identified, exposed and suffocated.”

The group noted that Bawa’s years of experience and training by global institutions such as the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FINCEN), the World Bank and the United Nations Office of Drug and Crimes, amongst others, could not have escaped the eyes of any employer seeking a competent hand to head to the anti-graft agency.

“It is the mettle of excellence and fine edge experience garnered from these arduous training that positioned him to give his best as Zonal Head at all his duty posts as an Officer primus inter pares. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) with towering results in investigation, prosecution and conviction of hardened economy saboteurs/criminals. His last duty post saw him supervising the biggest operations zonal office of the EFCC in Lagos with 604 officers and men and securing. The records are unarguable that he secured 227 convictions despite the Covid-19 Pandemic thus significantly staving off financial crimes at such a critical time.

“Like all our celebrated global icons who have made us proud such as Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and Amina Mohammed, Nigeria has made another new discovery in the unblemished anti-corruption champion – Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa. The Nigerian Youth herein offer our full solidarity and support to this welcome news that signals a positive turn in the war against corruption. Nigeria urgently needs the services of Mr. Bawa as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC with the full powers to wrestle the enemies of our economy to a grinding halt,” it said.

The NYCN further called on the Senate to, “immediately screen and approve the nomination of Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa,” adding that, “We shall be mobilizing our members to the National Assembly within the next seven (7) days to press home our point.”