Corruption especially among public officials have been blamed for the social and economic woes of the third world countries
As a result of this obvious fact, major world bodies like the United Nations, and the world Bank have consistently developed templates for adoption by member countries aimed at curbing acts of corruption in government and other public institutions, whistle blowing is one of such.
One may be tempted to ask, what is whistleblowing? Whistle blowing is the act of disclosing information, often by an employee, about activities within an organization, whether public or private, that are considered illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, or fraudulent.
Therefore a whistleblower is someone who, without permission, exposes private or confidential information regarding an organization, usually in the context of misconduct or wrongdoing. This disclosure is made in the interest of public safety, accountability, and ethical standards, and whistleblowers often face personal risks for their actions and this is the central focus of this piece.
Whistleblowers serve as essential agents in uncovering corruption and misconduct within organizations. Their actions expose activities such as bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, and other illicit practices, ultimately contributing to the dismantling of corruption networks.
Notably, whistleblower disclosures have resulted in the recovery of substantial amounts in fraud cases, thereby safeguarding taxpayers’ funds and ensuring that justice is served. It stands as one of the most potent tools for both detecting and preventing corruption and various forms of malpractice.
Here in Nigeria, the whistle blowers otherwise known as “informants” have had to suffer various degrees of persecution from persons or institutions upon whom the whistles are blown resulting sometimes to injuries or fatality.
In a bid to check unbridled attack on whistle blowers, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014 (“Act”) was enacted. Subsequent enactments sought to provide a framework to investigate alleged corruption and misuse of power by public servants and to protect persons who brought the wrongdoings to public glare. There have been a rampant cry for strengthening various features of the Act to make it whistleblower friendly and for providing adequate protection to whistleblowers under the Act.
Conscious of the lull in public response to the whistle blowing policies, the Buhari administration in 2022 came up with an amendment for purposes of operationalising and putting in place a whistleblower law aimed to strengthen the fight against corruption and to enable protection for whistleblowers that provide information for use by the government
Zainab Ahmed then minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy had said at the presentation of the bill that “the administration noticed that the whistleblower policy response has lost momentum. We embarked on engagement in the six geo-political zones, and one of the main outcomes we found is that people are concerned about their safety due to providing information. So, this bill is critical to ensure the effectiveness of the retention of the whistle blowing policy”
A peep into the relevant sections of the Bill revealed that it attempts to with safeguarding whistleblowers, with a significant emphasis on protection against retaliation or harm owing to discovering that such disclosures place them in jeopardy of retaliatory actions, which could potentially harm their property, family members, or even their lives.
Despite the fact that Section 23 (1) of the bill grants the whistleblower the right to request police protection as paramount safeguard for the lives of those who risk themselves to expose corrupt practices in Nigeria, the whistle blowers increasingly feel insecure owing to mistrust of investigating institutions of who are often alleged to disclose identities of the whistle blowers to the offenders for peculiary gains thus exposing the informants to harm.
Under the Act, it’s explicitly stipulated that individuals who make disclosures should not face victimization from their employers or fellow employees. In addition, it affirms that those who make such disclosures possess the legal right to take action if they encounter victimization, dismissal, suspension, redundancy, involuntary transfer, harassment, or any form of intimidation.
In reality, the whistle blowers in Nigeria feel deeply insecure and unprotected enough to take the risk of exposing corrupt practices often involving top state actors, thus resulting in the low momentum under reference by the citizens despite their feverish pitch response to the policy when it was first introduced leading to the recovery of millions of US Dollars in Ikoyi Lagos, Kaduna as in elsewhere in the country.
Specifically, Some of those monies had been recovered from LEGICO Plaza in Victoria Island, Lagos; the luxury apartment in Ikoyi; a building in Kaduna belonging to Andrew Yakubu, a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; among others.
The Nigerian government had in December 2016 adopted a policy on whistleblowing to encourage citizens to report financial and other related crimes to relevant authorities.
As stated above, since the introduction of the policy, the government has recovered about N17 billion, according to the EFCC.
Then, the government announced it had released about N375.8 million for payment of 20 whistleblowers who provided information for the recovery of over N11.6 billion.
The African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in December 2021 released a five-year report on the 2016 policy, indicating that the initial progress made by the policy had begun to wane.
The report acknowledges that, while many Nigerians are aware of the whistleblowing policy, they are hesitant to come forward as whistleblowers. This hesitancy is attributed to the lack of comprehensive legal protection, which has led to a loss of confidence in the effectiveness of the current framework.
Quest for anonymity is a critical element in whistleblowing as it allows individuals to come forward with information while shielding their identity. This protection empowers potential whistleblowers to reveal wrongdoing without fearing personal repercussions.
While anonymity is vital, stakeholders say this must be balanced with the need for Verifiable evidence. Maintaining a careful equilibrium between protecting whistleblowers’ identities and providing sufficient evidence can be challenging.
The 2021 report of the African Center for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICIMIL) is not far fetched considering some , though unconfirmed media investigations over the time which have suggested that some reported collateral damage and collosal loss of lives and property across the country, linked to cult related and communal conflicts are actually not true but resulted from retaliation for whistleblowers activities which leaves those already at risk to abandon work and family to seek refuge abroad.
Elijah Osama, a 45 year old civil servant was the first casualty. He was abducted on the 11th of May, 2021 but his disappearance though reported to be not related is suspected to be linked with his whistleblowing ties. Others like Francis Umoh in Ughelli, Delta State and Bello Labaran in Bwari, Abuja. All collateral damage.
If their identities must be obtained, further efforts at protecting whistle blowers should include sponsorship to foreign countries far from where any harm could befall them on account of any disclosure made.
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