Ex-EFCC Chairman launches book on Nigeria’s fuel subsidy fraud

A former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has alleged a staggering scale of corrupt practices used to siphon public funds under the guise of fuel subsidy payments.

Bawa revealed this in his book, titled ‘The Shadow of Loot & Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud,’ according to a statement on Monday.

The statement said the book exposes Nigeria’s multi-trillion-naira fuel subsidy scandal, unraveling the inner workings of one of the country’s most pervasive financial crimes.

Bawa, drawing from his firsthand experience as a key investigator on the EFCC’s special team that probed the 2012 subsidy fraud, reveals the complexity, and audacity of the corrupt schemes used.

According to the statement, the former head of the anti-graft agency chronicled how billions of naira were embezzled through ghost importing and over-invoicing as companies submitted claims for fuel that was never imported or inflated shipment volumes to receive excessive subsidy payouts.

Another form adopted by the perpetrators of the scandals, as revealed in the book, is the manipulation of bills of lading, where fraudsters exploited international price fluctuations to claim higher subsidies, by altering shipping documents.

Other sharp practices exposed by Bawa, who served as the EFCC chairman from 2021 to 2023, are round-tripping, double claims, diversion, and smuggling.

“Single shipments were often used to obtain multiple subsidy payments. Subsidised fuel was frequently diverted to black markets or smuggled out of Nigeria for profit.

These practices, Bawa explained, were boosted by forged documents, weak regulatory oversight, and systemic collusion between corrupt government officials and private sector actors.

“The Shadow of Loot And Losses is not just a chronicle of fraud; it is a call to action — a demand for transparency, accountability, and reform in Nigeria’s public finance management, especially in the oil sector,” said Bawa.

Credit: Channels TV