The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has lauded the whistle-blowing policy and described it as being instrumental in the recovery of various looted funds stashed away by corrupt individuals and the Fight Against Corruption: Two Year onโ, was organised by The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, AFRICMIL to evaluate the success of two years of the whistle blowing policy.
Magu who was represented by the Head, Enlightenment and Reorientation Unit, Samin Amaddin, said that while the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has implemented the whistleblowing policy as part of an elaborate strategy in combating corruption, the EFCC has had it incorporated in one form or the other in the EFCC Establishment Act 2004.
โAs a law enforcement agency, we value information because without it, you will hit brick wall in carrying out your security duties. In our experience at the EFCC, the whistle blower has made a tremendous impact on our operationsโ, he said.
According to him, the reward component for the whistle-blower in which the whistleblower gets between two and five per cent payable by the Ministry of Finance is no doubt a legitimate way of making wealth.
Chairman of the event, Femi Falana, SAN also commended the Policy saying that it has helped in recovering a large amount of national wealth that would have been pocketed by few corrupt elements.
Describing what has been recovered in the two years of the policy as a โtip of the icebergโ, Falana said that more has to be done.
โWe need to mobilise the Nigerian people who are potential beneficiaries of these public funds, if recovered, to mount sufficient pressure on the government to do the needfulโ, he said.
Co-ordinator of AFRICMIL, Chido Onuma, stated that to achieve its goal of popularising whistleblowing and making Nigerians see the need to adopt it as a strategic tool for reducing corruption, AFRICMIL had undertaken a number of activities in the last two years including creating awareness through media and civil society engagements, among others.
โOur goal is to have a citizenry that is sensitive to its role in tackling corruptionโ, he said.
The panel discussion featured at the event pointed out that whistleblowing policy did not just help in recovering money, but also helped to expose the monumental corruption going on in the country. The panellists agreed that adequate laws must be put in place to ensure the safety of the whistleblower as well as ensure that the incentive be paid judiciously.
The programme had in attendance representatives of ICPC, NEITI, Media professional among others.
