The Federal Government has said that its whistleblowing policy lost momentum and could not stand the test of time due to the lack of protective laws to ensure the safety of whistleblowers.
This is when the government establishes a legal framework for a policy that will significantly improve the fight against corruption in the new whistleblower bill that has just been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
This was made known by Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed while briefing House correspondents after the week’s FEC meeting, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. .
Ahmed, who said that the government has embarked on involvement in 6 geopolitical zones across the country, noted that the new bill will protect whistleblowers who provide useful information to the federal government.
New bill to guarantee the effectiveness of the complaint retention policy
- The minister during the press conference said: “The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning today presented several memoranda. The first is the whistleblower bill for 2022. This memo has been reviewed by Council and approved with a provision to ensure alignment with the Evidence Act.
- “The purpose of operationalizing and implementing a whistleblower bill is to strengthen the fight against corruption and allow for the protection of whistleblowers who provide information for government use.
- “As you know, since 2016, the Council approved the implementation of the Presidential Continuous Audit Initiative. PICA has been working in partnership with EFCC, ICPC, DSS and NFIU and the Federal Attorney General’s Office.
- “We noticed that the whistleblower policy response has lost momentum. We embarked on engagement across all six geopolitical zones, and one of the main results we found is that people are concerned about their safety because they provide information. Therefore, this bill is critical to ensuring the effectiveness of whistle policy retention.”
The bill is expected to be referred to the National Assembly for consideration and approval.
for the records
- The Whistleblower Policy was introduced on December 21, 2016, as part of the Buhari administration’s efforts to improve the fight against corruption. The initially highly successful policy now needs reform after a few years.
- The Whistleblower Protection Act, facilitated through the Federal Ministry of Finance, provides legal cover for individuals who voluntarily report fraud, bribery, looted government funds and assets, financial misconduct, and other forms of corruption.
- The policy also rewards a whistleblower who provides information about any financial mismanagement or tipping off stolen funds to the ministry’s portal with 2.5 – 5% of the funds recovered by the Nigerian government.