It’s no longer news that the Abulrasheed Bawa has been suspended from office as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.
A statement from the office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) on Wednesday night, which announced President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the suspension, said the EFCC Director of Operations was asked to take over as acting chairman of the Commission.
Meet the Acting Chairman of EFCC:
The Director of Operations and now acting chairman of EFCC is Abdulkarim Chukkol, who has taken over the leadership of the anti-graft agency immediately.
An EFCC source, while speaking with LEADERSHIP on Thursday morning, said there can’t be a vacuum at the commission and the President’s directive was clear enough on who should take over pending when a substantive chairman is appointed.
Recall that Chukkol was the director of operations at the EFCC until Wednesday night when President Tinubu suspended Bawa and ordered him to hand over to Chukkol.
Chukkol took over from Mohammed Abba as the Director of Operations, after the latter was returned to the Nigeria Police Force after acting as acting chairman of the commission following the suspension of Ibrahim Magu.
The new acting chairman, Chukkol holds Bachelor of Science Degree from University of Maiduguri, where he graduated in 2000 and subsequently pursued his Post-Graduate Diploma in Criminal Justice Education from University of Virginia, United States of America in 2011.
He also holds Diploma in Cybersecurity and Spectrum Monitoring.
He joined the EFCC in 2003 and rose through the ranks to become principal detective and director of operations.
Chukkol was at a point at the FBI National Academy, Quantico.
His former place of assignments include the head, the Port Harcourt’s zonal office of the EFCC before he was transferred back to the headquarters in Abuja.
