N700bn recovered through whistleblowers – Finance minister

The Federal Government had recovered over N700bn from corrupt individuals since the commencement of the whistle-blower policy in 2016, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said on Tuesday in Abuja.

She spoke during an interview with journalists at the National Conference on Whistle Blower Policy in Nigeria.

She said some of these recoveries were made during the cleaning of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System; stoppage of non-compliance with the Treasury Single Account and violations of the procurement Act 2007 among others.

The minister said at inception of the policy, there was widespread enthusiasm as Nigerians volunteered numerous actionable information.

Such information or tips, she noted, were referred for further investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission; Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the Department of State Services.
However, she lamented that after sometime, interest in the implementation of the policy nosedived.

To address these issues, she said a committee with representatives from anti-graft and security agencies, chaired by a representative of the Federal Ministry of Justice, was set up to draft a Whistle Blower Bill.

The committee was set up taking into account all the complaints received from the public and the observations of the various stakeholders.

Also speaking at the event, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the Whistle Blower Policy was developed as a tool to expose corruption and corrupt actors in government.

“The Whistle Blower Policy presents a unique opportunity for men and women of conscience who are appalled by the level of corruption in the society and are looking for safe avenues to expose the perpetrators of such corrupt activities to do so in a way that their identities are protected and their positions in their places of work are secured,” he said.

The Vice President urged the developers of the new Whistle Blower Bill to expand the scope of wrongful acts that might be reported by whistleblowers.

He said, “As a violation of law, gross mismanagement, waste of public resources, or acts inimical to public health or safety should be included in the scope of activities that whistleblowers can report to the authorities.

“The law should also provide for comprehensive protection of whistleblowers, including against reprisals from their employers and those whose activities they expose.

“These may include witness protection type provisions should the whistleblower have to appear in court.”

The VP said the ability of government to deliver on promises in the areas of human capital development, provision of quality infrastructure and the general economic progress of the country depended significantly on the protection of the scarce resources from being looted and its application for the benefit of Nigerian citizens.

He also said the policy should operate widely in states and local governments as they were closer to the people and oversee about half of the nation’s revenues.

Osinbajo said government’s goal was to harness the huge potential of the people to deliver on their moral obligation to report cases of corruption within their immediate environments.

The new whistleblower policy, he insisted, would energise the people to guard their resources through increased exposure of financial and related crimes.