In December 2016, the Federal Government introduced the whistle blower policy to further entrench the anti-corruption fight. The policy is managed by the Ministry of Finance through the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) unit. The policy is a call for citizens to voluntarily disclose information about fraud, bribery, looted government funds, financial misconduct, government assets and any other form of corruption or theft without inhibition.
Speaking on DoroCorruption radio program, Mr. Godwin Onyeacholem of the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) which is involved in a whistle blower protection project dubbed Corruption Anonymous (CORA) said the policy is not limited to fiscal crime but also wrongdoings of public interest. He pointed out that while the policy has been effective, there are concerns like a provision of the policy which criminalizes whistle blowing. In his words, “If you blow the whistle and it turns out to be false, you are liable for prosecution”, which is not acceptable in other countries like South Africa, Ghana, UK, US, that equally operate the whistle blower policy.
He noted that the whistle blower policy currently has no legal backing but there is ongoing legislative work to that effect. According to him, “The policy no get legal backing now, every whistle blower dey blow am at his own risk”. He observed that the continuous delay by the National Assembly in the passage of the whistle blower policy bill to law will reduce public interest and confidence on the effectiveness of the policy.
Reacting to the doubt about whistle blowers’ confidentiality, Mr. Onyeacholem assured whistle blowers of their privacy, adding that a whistle blower can choose to be identified or summit reports anonymously.
The whistle blower policy introduced in 2016 is an invitation to citizens to participate in the anti-corruption policy of government, to help law enforcement agencies to discharge their duties, with the possibility of increasing accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.
Mr. Onyeacholem exhorted the government to completely expunge the provision of the policy that criminalizes whistle blowing, as that will discourage well-meaning Nigerians from participating in the fight against corruption, which is contrary to the intentions of the policy.
