Nigeria Recovers Over N70b, $ 9,777,439.99, £ 21,500.00 Through Whistleblowing In Five Years
• CSO Tasks Judiciary On Stronger Protection Laws For Intelligence Sources
NIGERIA’S sustained onslaught against internet fraudsters in the country has been most successful owing largely to verifiable intelligence the anti- graft agencies received from concerned members of the public.
Often, these intelligence leads to surveillance, arrest, investigation and eventual prosecution in courts. But little or nothing has been said about the work whistleblowers are doing and how they are helping the government recover funds in naira, dollars, pounds and euros.
The whistle blower policy was approved by the Federal Executive Council ( FEC) in December 2016 to serve as a medium for Nigerians to submit tips on financial misappropriation and other wrong doings to appropriate authorities.
The Federal Ministry of Finance was saddled with responsibility of coordinating the whistleblowing policy while Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit ( PICA) serves as the secretariat.
Other critical Stakeholders such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission ( 1CPC), Department of State Services ( DSS), Nigerian Financial Intelligent Unit ( NFIU) and the Nigerian Police Force ( NPF) are partners. Between 2016 when the idea of whistleblowing was conceived and 2021, the sums of N70,925,225,642.95, $ 9,777,439.99, and £ 21, 500.00 was recovered from corrupt individuals while a total of 481 convictions were secured. Recall that following a useful tip by a whistleblower in 2017, the EFCC raided and successfully recovered the sums of $ 43.5million, 27,800 pounds and N23.2 million in Lagos ( Flat 7b, No 16, Osborne Towers) in 2017. Also, a Kogi State House of Assembly candidate was arrested with N326 million and $ 140,500 in an Estate in Abuja whereas his accomplice was apprehended in Lagos with $ 470,000.00 after a painstaking investigation by EFCC following the information provided by a whistleblower.
The Guardian learnt that individuals who submitted tips preferred their identities to be kept secret for fear of victimisation.
However, anti- graft stakeholders working towards reducing corrupt practices in Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAS) of government have raised the alarm over the increasing number of public servants suffering retaliation for reporting wrongdoings in their places of work. According to them, findings have revealed that many government officials are willing to report wrongdoings but are afraid due to fear of victimisation by superior forces.
They called on legal practitioners to help whistleblowers understand their rights and the legal procedures involved in reporting wrongdoing.
The stakeholders spoke in Abuja during a one- day workshop for lawyers put together by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy