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.
In 2012, the planned removal of the fuel subsidy by the then administration of President Goodluck Jonathan sparked a nationwide protest by Nigerians, under the Occupy Nigeria movement.
In September 2012, the Federal Government said it paid a total of ₦259, 339, 041, 657.85 as subsidy claims between 2011 and 2012.
At his inauguration in May 2023, President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy.
Speaking during the inauguration of the Planning Committee for the National Youth Conference at the State House, Abuja, in March 2025, he said that his decision to remove the fuel subsidy removal was in the interest of Nigerian youths and their future.
“Every decision that I have taken is about you. It’s about the future. When we removed the fuel subsidy, it was because we wanted to protect your future.
“We have cleared the path for you to have a great future,” Tinubu said was quoted as saying in a statement released by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.
