He revealed subsidy payments ballooned from ₦200 billion in 2006 to ₦2.1 trillion by 2011, driven by manipulation and regulatory failures.
AbdulRasheed Bawa, former Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has described the country’s fuel subsidy regime as “a compromised system” sustained by entrenched fraud and complicity across sectors, including law enforcement.
Speaking on ARISE News about his new book, The Shadow of Loot and Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Fuel Subsidy Fraud, Bawa said EFCC investigations between 2006 and 2011 uncovered massive corruption in the scheme.
“Everybody was benefiting from the scale and the scam, including law enforcement,” he said. “People can be compromised in such a way that they will look the other way around.”
He revealed subsidy payments ballooned from ₦200 billion in 2006 to ₦2.1 trillion by 2011, driven by manipulation and regulatory failures. Despite prosecuting several suspects, Bawa said the government later opted for negotiated recoveries.
“When the government realised it didn’t have to take that path, they opened a window for recovery,” he explained.
He welcomed President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 removal of the subsidy, calling it “a good thing,” and stressed that the anti-corruption fight remains ongoing.
“There is always room for improvement,” Bawa said. “The future is very bright for the country. We must be optimistic.”