EFCC’s bid for whistleblowers’ protection

Delivering a paper on the “Impact of the whistleblowing policy on public sector accountability and transparency” on Thursday July 11, 2024 at the Inter-agency Task Team (IATT) conference in Abuja, the executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, reopened the debate about the imperative of effective engagement of whistle-blowers in the battle against corruption. Restarting the conversation, perhaps unwittingly, he identified some of the perceived weaknesses of the whistle-blower policy, which should be addressed, including the need for adequate safeguards for whistle-blowers to shield them from persecution or punishment.

It was in a bid to expose and confront corruption that the Buhari administration adopted whistleblowing as a government policy in 2016. The policy has since become lukewarm as many would-be whistle-blowers withhold information for fear of their safety. Corruption must be tackled frontally for it has eaten deep into our nation’s fabric like cankerworm.

In fact, Olukoyede labels corruption as the next deadliest affliction of humanity after terrorism. Indeed, a measure of the magnitude of public sector corruption in Nigeria and its colossal disruptive effects on the economy emerged in a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, which indicated that Nigerian public officials received N721 billion as bribes in 2023, amounting to about 0.35% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

When it was espoused in 2016, a whistle-blower who provides information about any financial mismanagement or gives clue about any stolen funds to the Ministry of Finance’s portal is rewarded or entitled to between 2.5% and 5% from the recovered funds by the federal government. Some important recoveries were made following whistleblowing. For instance, within the first two months of the policy, the federal government recovered over $178 million stolen from government’s coffers. According to Wikipedia, by June 5, 2017, the federal ministry of finance had received a total of 2,150 tips from the public and this grew to 5,000 by August of the same year.

The recovery that year, through a whistler-blower’s effort, of $43.5million, GBP27, 800 and N23.2million at No. 16 Osborne Road, Ikoyi in Lagos is particularly remarkable.To keep its part of the bargain, the federal ministry of finance, according to reports, paid the whistler-blower involved the sum of N421million, though the entire episode later became controversial.

Strengthening whistle-blowers to expose wrongdoings has become imperative if the anti-corruption fight must fully succeed. This is why civil society organisations and concerned individuals had been engaged in a number of advocacies since 2016 to ensure that people who blow whistle are properly protected.
“The starting point is to emplace a legal framework for whistleblowing including a Whistle-blower Protection Law,” the EFCC chairman surmised, while also calling for the streamlining of the channels for reporting and procedures for the determination and payment of incentives.

According to him, there should be “clear-cut guidelines on reporting channels, including determining agencies to receive the whistle-blower information”.

Olukoyede’s call is important. Those who blow the lead on corrupt practices must not be put on arm’s way. They must be sufficiently protected. Their resolve to promote the anti-corruption crusade would be strengthened if they know the law will protect them in the act.

Since his appointment as the fifth executive chairman of the EFCC in October 2023, Olukoyede has ushered in a new era and leadership at the commission. A pastor and lawyer, he has left no one in doubts about his seriousness to wage the war on corruption and given the graft battle all it requires. Olukoyede has taken important steps to take the battle against corruption to a new high. He has taken on those hitherto viewed as sacred cows, those who could not be touched, let alone asked to account for their deeds.

At every turn, he uttered the right words and made the right call, though occasionally his haste and exuberance shone through. His passion and determination to clean the Augean stable is, however, unmistakable. His deep knowledge of the law has been a huge advantage, helping to moderate his handling of allegedly corrupt people.

While making a case for whistle-blowers to be protected, Olukoyede also urged Nigerians not to be motivated by pecuniary benefits in exposing corruption, stressing that incentives should not be the driving force of the policy. “A sustainable whistle-blower programme should be anchored on a moral foundation in which citizens provide information as a matter of patriotic duty, not propelled by a desire for reward. Whistleblowing should be organic, not driven by pecuniary considerations,” he said.

For him, whistleblowing should also not be reactionary. “We should be more interested in whistleblowing that prevents the stealing of public funds rather than the recovery of funds. Once funds are looted, the entire loot may never be recovered,” he said.

Barely a year in office, the EFCC under Olukoyede’s watch has recorded considerable convictions of people for corrupt practices and made bounteous recoveries from proceeds of corruption. Between May 2023 and May 2024, it is on record that the commission secured a total of 3,451 convictions from 5, 376 cases filed in various courts. A total of 15,753 petitions were also received out of which 12, 287 cases were investigated within the same period.

It is a pointer to the visionary leadership being provided by Olukoyede and his commitment to a better Nigeria that the EFCC contributed the sum of N50 billion each to two of the key programmes of the President Bola Tinubu administration, the Nigeria Education Loan Fund and Consumer Credit programme, from the proceeds of corruption.

In the final analysis, the government and Nigerians generally, especially youths, must prioritize prevention and encourage behavioural changes towards anti-corruption. The news about the new mobile app for youth to report crimes is therefore a welcome development. The mobile application called mobiliser is specifically targeted at Nigerian youths and can be downloaded on phones to report crimes and criminalities.

According to the National Orientation Agency director-general, Lanre Isa-Onilu, who developed the app, this will give security operatives, comprising the Nigeria Police, the military and other security agencies, the opportunity to swing into action and trail criminals and bring them to book.

Indeed, we must continue to tighten the noose around corrupt officials if we are to promote transparency and accountability in public service. To actualise this, we need to revisit the matter of whistleblowing and protection for whistle-blowers. And the best way to protect whistle-blowers,in my view, is through the confidentiality of information.

Rahman is a senior presidential aide.