The Federal Executive Council yesterday approved a new policy that will see any whistle-blower being rewarded with as much as 5 % of recovered loot. Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who disclosed this to state house correspondents, said the policy which was devised by her ministry, is to encourage anyone with information about corrupt practices to share it with the government.
According to her, the policy is aimed at increasing exposure of financial related crimes, supporting the fight against financial crimes and corruption, improving level of public confidence in public entities, enhancing transparency and accountability in the management of public funds, improving Nigeria’s Open Government Ranking and Ease of Doing Business Indicators as well as recovering public funds that can be deployed to finance Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit.
Adeosun added that vital information that can be sent in for investigation includes mismanagement or misappropriation of public funds and assets (e.g. properties and vehicles), financial malpractice or fraud, collecting/ soliciting bribes; corruption; diversion of revenues, fraudulent and unapproved payments; splitting of contracts, procurement fraud (kickbacks and over-invoicing etc.)
Responding to a question on whether a whistleblower will be rewarded financially, she said
“It depends. If there is a voluntary return of stolen or concealed public funds or assets on the account of the information provided, the whistleblower may be entitled to anywhere between 2.5% (minimum) and 5.0% (maximum) of the total amount recovered. You must have provided the government with information it does not already have and could not otherwise obtain from any other publicly available source to the Government.”
