AbdulRasheed Bawa, CON, the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has described Nigeria’s now-defunct fuel subsidy regime as a deeply corrupted system enabled by both public and private interests, including law enforcement agencies.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News’ Primetime programme on Monday, June 30, Bawa said the revelations were documented in his new book The Shadow of Loot and Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Fuel Subsidy Fraud.
The book focuses on the EFCC’s investigations between 2006 and 2011, during which time subsidy payments skyrocketed from ₦200 billion to ₦2.1 trillion.
“Everybody was benefiting from the scale and the scam, including law enforcement,” Bawa said. “People can be compromised in such a way that they will look the other way around. It’s a general thing.”
Bawa, who led the EFCC from 2021 to 2023, said the initial idea for the book came from witnessing, firsthand, the scale of corruption embedded in the system.
“Even at that time at the EFCC, we saw that this was something that had never happened before,” he said. “I took the pain to write it down.”
Although not all subsidy payments were fraudulent, Bawa said, the sharp escalation in figures reflected widespread manipulation by oil marketers, regulators, and others who exploited loopholes with political protection.
“You have to understand, irrespective of how fortified a system is, with human touch, there’s nothing that cannot be done,” he said.
He noted that the EFCC’s crackdown led to the prosecution and conviction of several suspects, with one case concluded as recently as 2025.
However, Bawa revealed that the government eventually opted for negotiated recoveries in many cases.
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“First, people were charged to court. Another set were charged. Then the government realised it didn’t have to take that path,” he explained. “They opened a window for recovery.”
The investigations, he said, had measurable impact: the number of oil marketing companies dropped from 118 to 49, and the subsidy bill was slashed from over ₦2 trillion to ₦1 trillion.
Bawa also praised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to completely end the subsidy regime in 2023.
“It’s a good thing that we had to let it go,” he said. “At least that opportunity that the regime has provided is no more there.”
While he could not independently verify how the savings are being used, Bawa believes the removal of the subsidy has freed up significant resources for governance.
“There is always room for improvement,” he said. “The future is very bright for the country. We must be optimistic.”
When asked about the recurring trend of EFCC chairpersons exiting under a cloud, Bawa dismissed claims of political persecution but acknowledged it as a recurring phase.
“It’s just a phase that has to come and go. People always talk. Whether you’re telling the truth or not, people will say something,” he remarked.
Despite his own suspension from office in 2023, Bawa stood by the EFCC’s work under his watch.
“The impact is real,” he said. “The frauds that were identified helped to deal a very good blow to those that were participating in the scheme.”