Nigeria’s new President Bola Tinubu has suspended indefinitely the head of the country’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Abdulrasheed Bawa was asked to step aside in order to allow “proper investigation into his conduct while in office”.

Although it’s common for the head of the anti-corruption agency to be removed once a new president gets into office, a government statement said the suspension followed “weighty” allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.

There have been a number of corruption allegations against the 43-year-old Mr Bawa since he was appointed the EFCC chairman in 2021, which he has denied.

In an interview with BBC Hausa last month, a former governor of the northern Zamfara state accused Mr Bawa of allegedly demanding a $2m (£1.58m) bribe from him. He denied the allegation.

Nigeria is ranked 150th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s perception of corruption index.
-BBC-