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.