By Ibrahim Ramalan
Abuja
The federal government will protect and reward whistle-blowers who provide information that leads to the recovery of stolen funds or assets, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has reiterated.
In a statement issued yesterday, the minister said the federal government would protect the identity of all whistle-blowers, whether in the public or the private sector, and also ensure that the information they provide was kept secret.
”For those who may have suffered any backlash as a result of the information they provided, their cases will be reviewed and appropriate mitigating actions taken,” he said.
Mohammed said the assurance followed the presentations made to the
Presidential Assets Recovery Committee by concerned citizens and groups about the safety of whistle-blowers.
”Whistle-blowers have nothing to fear, because the committee has put in place the necessary measures to safeguard those who give useful information. As a matter of fact, whistle-blowers have everything to gain and nothing to lose,” he said.
The Minister said any whistle-blower whose information leads to the recovery of up to N1 billion will receive five per cent of the amount; that the reward for any amount between N1 and N5 billion will be five per cent for the first N1 billion and four per cent of the remaining N4 billion and that any amount over N5 billion will attract 2.5 per cent reward.
”For example, if a whistle-blower provides information leading to the recovery of N10 billion, he or she will receive 5% of the first N1 billion, 4% of the next N4 billion and 2.5% of the remaining N5 billion.
”What we have done by making this information public is to reassure otential whistle-blowers that the plan to reward is real. We are not just saying we will pay all whistle-blowers, but we are letting them know in advance what they are entitled to, once the information they provide leads to the recovery of looted funds,” he said.
