Mohammed Umar Abba: 6 Important Things to Know about Former Acting EFCC Chairman Who Took Over from Magu

FCT, Abuja - President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Wednesday, June 14, suspended the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), AbdulRasheed Bawa, and directed him to hand over to the director of operations.

The president's directive led to some confusion as some reports stated that Mohammed Umar Abba was the director of operations and would take over from Bawa.

However, a recent press statement issued by the EFCC (on May 28, 2023), indicates that CE Abdulkarim Chukkol is the director of operations, not Abba.

This implies that Bawa will hand over to Chukkol, not Abba, as previously erroneously reported.

Nevertheless, Legit.ng notes that Abba has also once served as the acting chairman of the EFCC. He took over following the suspension of Ibrahim Magu (former acting EFCC chairman) on July 6, 2020.

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Seven months after, Abba handed over to the substantive Chairman (also now suspended), Abdulrasheed Bawa, on February 24, 2021.

Mohammed Umar Abba: Six things to know about former acting EFCC chairman

1. Mohammed Umar Abba was born on June 22, 1965, in Tudunwada Local Government Area of Kano State.

2. Abba bagged his first degree from Bayero University, Kano. He did his one-year national service at the old Anambra State Police Command and later got enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force. He attended the Nigeria Police Academy, Kaduna State, where he was commissioned in 1992.

3. CP Abba was seconded to the Commission in January 2016 to head the Counterterrorism and General Investigations, CTGI, Section at the Headquarters in Abuja.

4. He was appointed the Director of Operations of the Commission in 2017.

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5. In 2019, he was promoted to the rank of Commissioner of Police.

6. On July 9, 2020, Abba stepped in as the Acting Chairman of the Commission, being the most senior operational officer when the former chairman, Ibrahim Magu, was suspended.

DSS interrogates EFCC chairman Bawa after suspension

Meanwhile, the Department of State Services(DSS), on Wednesday night, said it had invited the suspended Bawa for further investigations.

DSS public relations director Peter Afunaya made this known in a statement.

This development follows President Bola Tinubu’s approval of Bawa’s indefinite suspension “to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office.”

President Tinubu suspends CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, orders probe

In another similar development, President Bola Tinubu suspended Godwin Emefiele as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The office of the secretary to the government of the federation announced his suspension.

Willie Bassey, director of information, SGF office, in a statement issued on Friday, June 9 noted that the suspension is with immediate effect.

Source: Legit.ng