To further Nigeria’s fight against corruption, the African Centre for Media and
Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) and Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) have announced a new partnership to strengthen
whistleblowing in the country.
The two civil society organizations made this known during a round table meeting at
PRIMORG’s office complex in Abuja.
Speaking during the meeting, the Coordinator of AFRICMIL, Dr. Chido Onumah, noted
that whistleblowing remains an indispensable tool needed in the fight against corruption,
hence the need to advocate relentlessly for a law protecting whistleblowers and
whistleblowing.
Onumah lamented the inability of the 9th National Assembly to strengthen the existing
whistleblowing policy and revealed plans for a robust engagement of legislators and the
federal government this time.
“The eventual non-passage of the whistleblowing legislation by the last National
Assembly was a minus to the fight against corruption. So, there is a need to do a lot of
advocacy. Media attention must be on legislation for whistleblowing to bring the issue to
the front burner of conversation again.
“There is the need to resurrect the push for whistleblowing law in Nigeria,” Onumah
stressed.
He commended PRIMORG for collaborating with AFRICMIL over the years, revealing
that “partnership with PRIMORG has been the most effective in the last seven years.”
On his part, the Executive Director of PRIMORG, Augustine Okhiria Agbonsuremi,
described the failure of past National Assemblies to get the country a whistleblower law
as a disservice and a significant setback to Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight.
Agbonsuremi called for all hands to be on deck in ensuring whistleblowing gets a legal
impetus under the current National Assembly led by former Akwa Ibom State governor,
Godswill Akpabio, as Senate President and Tajudeen Abbas as Speaker, House of
Representatives.
He also welcomed the idea of vigorously engaging legislators, the federal government,
civil society groups and citizens on the lingering lack of whistleblowing law in Nigeria.
“We have to start early to engage members of the National Assembly. They will see and
understand why we need a law to protect whistleblowers and preserve whistleblowing.
“We will also not relent in engaging Federal Ministries of Finance and Justice, as well as
the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA). CSOs in Nigeria and beyond will
be carried along to drive this reawakening towards legislation for whistleblowing in the
country.” Agbonsuremi stated.
He assured AFRICMIL of PRIMORG’s continuous support and dedication towards the
success of the whistleblowing project, adding that PRIMORG would use its platforms to
popularize the advocacy and push for passage of whistleblowing law.
AFRICMILL and PRIMORG, during the meeting, agreed to embark on joint activities
involving stakeholders in the anti-corruption spaces to work towards the realization of a
law to strengthen whistleblowing in Nigeria.
The existing whistleblower policy was launched on December 21, 2016, by the Federal
Government and facilitated through the Federal Ministry of Finance. Despite calls for the
policy to be strengthened with legislation, previous parliaments have been unsuccessful
in turning the policy into a law.
