The Department of State Services (DSS) has summoned the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, merely hours after President Bola Tinubu suspended him from office.

Announcing his suspension earlier, Willie Bassey, Director of Information at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said: “Mr Bawa has been directed to immediately handover the affairs of his office to the Director, Operations in the Commission, who will oversee the affairs of the Office of the Chairman of the Commission pending the conclusion of the investigation.”

Meanwhile, according to a statement made available to THE WHISTLER by the DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, the state service invited Bawa to its head office to respond to questions bordering on those allegations.

“Bawa arrived a few hours ago. The invitation relates to some investigative activities concerning him,” Afunanya said in the terse statement.

Bawa’s exact offences are yet to be disclosed, but it is believed to be related to ongoing investigations or concerns surrounding Bawa’s tenure as EFCC chairman and allegations of bribe-seeking recently levelled against him by former Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle.

President Bola Tinubu’s decision to suspend Bawa as the EFCC chairman came less than two weeks after the president suspended Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over similar allegations.

Bawa, a young and promising anti-corruption crusader, was appointed to the position in February 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, with high hopes for combating corruption and economic crimes in the country.