The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) is collaborating with the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) for the review of five years of the federal government’s policy on whistleblowing. The policy was announced by the Federal Executive Council on December 21, 2016, as a strategy for curbing endemic corruption in the country.
AFRICMIL has been partnering and supporting PICA since 2017 when it launched its Corruption Anonymous (CORA) project supported by MacArthur Foundation.
A highlight of the review is a five-day stakeholders’ workshop in Keffi, Nasarawa State, from May 24-28, 2021. The keynote address will be delivered by Shehu Aliyu Shinkafi, Permanent Secretary, Finance (Special Duties) who will declare the meeting open on behalf of Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning.
The meeting will draw participants from the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), civil society groups, including Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), CLEEN Foundation, and HEDA Resource Centre, as well as Ministries, Departments and Agencies, anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies, and professional bodies like the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).
The aim of the conference is to examine the performance of whistleblowing and whistleblower protection in Nigeria since 2016 when the whistleblowing policy was introduced and put together an enduring framework for strengthening it as an important tool for fighting corruption.
“This conference is important to us in civil society much as it is to PICA and the Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning,” said Chido Onumah, Coordinator of AFRICMIL. “It is a key segment of our work in institutionalizing whistleblowing and protecting whistleblowers in Nigeria and the Ministry sees it as the highpoint of their commitment to making whistleblowing a permanent feature in the fight against corruption. We are optimistic the outcome will benefit potential whistleblowers and enhance the accountability environment in the country.”
Deliberations at the Keffi meeting are expected to lean heavily on inputs from stakeholders at a three-day international conference on the whistleblowing policy in Abuja last year, with a view to harnessing them for a more effective administration of the policy.
