Former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has released a new book titled ‘The Shadow of Loot and Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud.’
The exposé provides an authoritative account of Nigeria’s multi-trillion-naira fuel subsidy scandal, unraveling the inner workings of one of the country’s most pervasive financial crimes.
Drawing from his firsthand experience as a key investigator on the EFCC’s special team that probed the 2012 subsidy fraud, Bawa reveals the staggering scale, complexity, and audacity of the schemes used to siphon public funds under the guise of fuel subsidy payments.
His insider narrative chronicles how billions of naira were recovered and several culprits brought to justice, while also shedding light on how entrenched corruption allowed the fraud to flourish for years.
In the book, published by CableBooks, Bawa details multiple fraudulent strategies including ‘ghost importing and over-invoicing: Companies submitted claims for fuel that was never imported or inflated shipment volumes to receive excessive subsidy payouts; manipulation of bills of lading: By altering shipping documents, fraudsters exploited international price fluctuations to claim higher subsidies.
In a statement on behalf of CableBooks, Vic Akinrogunde, said other areas the book exposed include round-tripping and double claims: Single shipments were often used to obtain multiple subsidy payments. Diversion and smuggling: Subsidised fuel was frequently diverted to black markets or smuggled out of Nigeria for profit.
Bawa explained that these practices were enabled by forged documents, weak regulatory oversight, and systemic collusion between corrupt government officials and private sector actors.
“The Shadow of Loot & Losses is not just a chronicle of fraud. It is a call to action – a demand for transparency, accountability, and reform in Nigeria’s public finance management, especially in the oil sector,” he said.
