Following Tuesday’s suspension of Abdulrasheed Bawa, as executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by President Bola Tinubu, Abdulkarim Chukkol has stepped in as acting chairman of the commission.

Until his new role, Mr Chukkol was the director of operations of the commission.

A pioneer staff of the commission and an illustrious member of the EFCC Cadet Course One, Mr Chukkol is a consummate and vastly experienced investigator with specialty in cybercrime and money laundering.

His Command appointments in the Commission include spells as Head of the Advance Fee Fraud and Cybercrime Sections of the Lagos and Abuja Zonal Commands between 2011 -2016, pioneer Commander of the Uyo Zonal Command in 2017 and Commander of Port Harcourt Zonal Command in 2020.

Mr Chukkol has participated in several special operations with international law enforcement organisations  and maintains close relationships with law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, UK National Crime Agency, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), United States Secret Service, Australian Federal Police, Dutch Police, German Police, South African Police, etc.

The acting EFCC boss has worked closely with other governments to develop law and infrastructure for carrying out law enforcement actions.

He is Nigeria’s contact person at the International Mass Marketing Fraud Working Group representing key Government regulatory, law enforcement, prosecution, immigration and customs, financial intelligence, consumer protection agencies as well and trade and competition bureaus dealing with mass marketing-related issues from Spain, Nigeria, Belgium, Europol, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States.

He has attended several courses, seminars and workshops on public corruption, advance fee fraud and other economic and financial crimes both locally and internationally, including the Oxford University, United Kingdom, in 2022.

His work and initiatives over the years have earned him several awards and commendations both locally and internationally, including “the Most Outstanding Award in Operations” by the EFCC and the “Outstanding Performance Award” by the United States Department of Justice, among others.

The acting EFCC chairman, holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Maiduguri (2000) and Post Graduate certificate in criminal justice education from the University of Virginia, United States as well as a graduate diploma in cybersecurity and spectrum management from the,.

He is also an alumnus of the FBI National Academy, Quantico; European Center of Security Studies, Germany and a Fellow of the War College, Nigeria.