Re-assessing Buhari’s whistle-blower policy

Whistle Blower Policy, adopted from the western democracy is gradually becoming a culture being espoused to help curb corruption in Nigeria.
KEHINDE OSASONA looks at the recovery strides recorded so far by the current administration
Background Recent report from Transparency International revealed that Nigeria’s whistle blowing scorecard had 8,373 enquiries, while 1,231 tips have been received.
The report further confirms that seven hundred and ninety one investigations are ongoing, out of which 534 of those investigations have been carried out, and the government through the policy, had made some huge financial recoveries.
Considerably, a school of thought believes that should the Muhamamdu Buhari administration implement its whistle-blower policy in true form and bring the looted wealth back to the country; no one will dare to launder money from the country.
They also concur that Nigeria’s economy will be back on the track.
Their submission was hinged on the fact that the policy, introduced by the federal government in 2016, has remained a well-thought-out plan of the current administration’s anti-graft war.
And notwithstanding the myriads of challenges trailing its introduction, the generality of Nigerians still agrees that the initiative is capable of curtailing financial crimes and misappropriation of assets.
Tieback The policy was birthed after a Federal Executive Council meeting, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, alongside the erstwhile Minister of Finance, Mrs.
Kemi Adeosun and other stakeholders in 2017.
Under the whistleblower policy, the individual who gives information is entitled to between 2.5 percent and 5 percent of the recovered loot.
Consequently, the announcement of N421 million earmarked by the government to reward whistle-blowers eventually led to a start-up of the muchtalked about initiative.
On the payment procedure, the Adeosun was quoted as having said: “On the amount to be paid, the whistle-blower policy as you know, the procedure is, once we have obtained final forfeiture, there is what we call a period of waiting and seeing just to make sure that there is no legal challenge to the forfeiture and then we begin to process the payment.” Similarly, acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, also called on Nigerians desirous of a positive change in the country to take advantage of the policy, saying, aside from contributing to the eradication of corruption, potential whistleblowers also stand to “benefit from the illicit acquisition by the looters.” The big catch Not long after, the operatives of the anti-graft agency broke into a four-bedroom apartment on Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, and made a massive raid.
They pulled out $43 million, £27,800 and N23 million stashed in a wardrobe.
According to the commission, the discovery followed an operation triggered by a whistle blower’s alert received by its Lagos office.
Following the development, Magu said, “the young man who blew the whistle on the massive stash of money recovered from an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, is now a millionaire by virtue of the percentage he was officially entitled to.” As that was yet to simmer, there came another revelation which led to the discovery of stashed money by the EFCC in a building belonging to a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew Yakubu, in Kaduna.
The raid yielded the recovery of $9,772,800 (Nine Million, Seven Hundred and Seven Two Thousand, Eight Hundred United States Dollars) and another sum of £74,000 (Seventy Four Thousand Pound Sterling) cash which was hidden in a fire proof safe.
According to a statement by the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, the surprise raid of the facility was sequel to an intelligence which the commission received about suspected proceeds of crime believed to be hidden in the slums of Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna.
“On arrival at the facility, the caretaker of the house, one Bitrus Yakubu, a younger brother to Andrew Yakubu, disclosed that both the house and the safe where the money was found belong to his brother, Andrew Yakubu.
“When the safe was opened, it was discovered that it contained the sum of $9,772,800 (Nine Million, Seven Hundred and Seventy Two Thousand, Eight Hundred United States Dollars) and another sum of £74,000 (Seventy Four Thousand Pound Sterling),” the EFCC spokesman had revealed.
However, on February 8, 2017, Mr.
Yakubu reported to the commission’s zonal office in Kano and made statement where he admitted ownership of the recovered money, claiming it was gift from unnamed persons.
Contradictory figures Blueprint recalls that in November 2017, Mr Magu said the EFCC recovered N739 billion in two years.
Again, earlier this year, he said his agency recovered N511 billion in 2017 alone.
But in a February 2018 letter, the then finance minister, challenged Magu’s claims, arguing that only N91 billion was recovered since Buhari assumed office in May 2015 as computed by the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Adeosun thereafter, asked Magu to explain how he came about the humongous figures he was bandying in the media.
As a way of dousing tension occasioned by the duo’s stance, Adeosun’s office and the EFCC later promised to address the contradiction occasioned by a mishap in reconciliation of figures bandied by them.
Falana, Keyamo, ICSAN’s stance Citing relevant sections of the constitution in support of the policy at a lecture tagged; “Whistle-blowing Policy: Issues, Benefits, and Challenges to curtail financial crimes and misappropriation of assets both in the private and public sectors of the nation,” Falana assured that “anybody who blows the whistle is protected by the constitution” According to Falana, “Section 24 of the constitution stipulates that every citizen is legally bound to assist law enforcement agencies to expose crime and promote law and order in the society,” describing the policy as one designed to achieve citizen-participation in the anticorruption policy of government.
“The constitutional right of a citizen is to impart information, knowledge and ideas, as the constitution provides for the protection of the citizen’s right to freedom of expression.
“Anybody who blows the whistle is protected by the constitution.
Section 39 of the constitution guarantees freedom of expression and that includes freedom to impart knowledge, information and ideas to people,” the right activist added.
Holding similar position, Festus Keyamo, another constitutional lawyer, further added that the scope of the policy, if implemented, should be expanded to cover the private sector, particularly banking, which in his view, is noted for that abuse.
He nevertheless advised that the policy must be carefully implemented not to protect actual criminals and accomplices, and must separate accomplices from whistleblowers.
Toeing same path of thought, Samuel Kolawole, President, Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administration of Nigeria, described whistle blowing as a potent anti-corruption instrument in the fight against corruption.
He said: “We believe in its usefulness and have always promoted its deployment not only because of its potential as a safeguard against corruption but also as an instrument for promoting accountability, transparency and good governance.
“ICSAN has always underscored the significance of whistle blowing as a veritable mechanism both in the public and private sectors,” he said.
Going forward Meanwhile, almost two years after, and as the debates rage on, stakeholders are of the view that government should improve the effectiveness of the policy by putting in place measures that will make it hard for economic and financial crimes perpetrators to misappropriate public funds.
Not only that, they called for review of the investigative framework of the policy such that it could focus more on preventive rather than punitive measures.