Abdulrasheed Bawa, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has unveiled a new book on the fraud in Nigeria’s petrol subsidy scheme.
Published by Cable Books, the publication, ‘The Shadow of Loot & Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud’, will be released on June 5.
Cable Books is an imprint of Cable Media and Publishing Ltd. The book will be distributed nationwide by Roving Heights Bookstore.
Bawa served as the chairman of the anti-graft agency from February 2021 to June 2023.
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In the book, he detailed how the petrol subsidy scheme was used to syphon public funds, drawing from his experience as a key investigator on the EFCC’s special team that probed the 2012 subsidy fraud.
The former EFCC boss highlighted how billions of naira were recovered and several culprits were prosecuted.
He also detailed how entrenched corruption allowed the fraud to flourish for years.
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Bawa detailed the strategies deployed to engage in the fraud, including ghost importing and over-invoicing; manipulation of bills of lading; round-tripping and double claims; and diversion and smuggling.
The ex-EFCC chairman explained that the practices were enabled by forged documents, weak regulatory oversight, and systemic collusion between corrupt government officials and private sector actors.
Bawa said the book is not just a chronicle of fraud but a call to action and transparency in public finance management in Nigeria.
On May 29, 2023, during his swearing-in ceremony, President Bola Tinubu announced the end of the petrol subsidy scheme.
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Shortly after the announcement, the pump price of petrol moved from N190 to N500. There has been an upward trend in the price of the product that now sells at over N850.
