Revealed: How Whistleblower Was Dismissed For Exposing Corruption In Federal Mortgage Bank…See Details

A Nigerian man has parted with his job
after exposing corrupt activities in a bank
in compliance with the whistleblowing
policy.

According to a report by SaharaReporters,
Mr. Murtala Aliyu Ibrahim, Unit Head, ICT/
Process Audit and Special Investigation Unit
at the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria
(FMBN), paid with his job for exposing
corruption in the bank.
Documents exclusively obtained by
SaharaReporters showed that Mr. Ibrahim,
in his position Unit Head ICT/Process Audit
and Special Investigation, walked into
trouble just for doing his job diligently.
His troubles began in August 2016, when he
was assigned by the Head of Internal Group
Audit to visit Maman Kontagora House and
report on the renovation contracts awarded
by the FMBN. The contracts were awarded to
many contractors at an aggregate cost of
N2.3billion.
According to documents, the former
Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Richard
Esin, pressured the Internal Audit Group to
release the sum of N180,668, 525 monthly,
as proposed the Special Services Group
supervising the renovation contracts.
Mr. Ibrahim and his colleague, Mr. Taslim
Anibaba, refused to certify the payment
unless a job completion certificate
presented. Their refusal led to a meeting at
Mr. Esin’s office, where it was decided that
Mr. Ibrahim should represent the Internal
Audit Group and visit the Maman Kontagora
House together with a staff of the Special
Services Group to evaluate the work done
and enable them jointly sign the job
completion certificate, as stipulated by the
terms of the contracts.
The Special Services Group, documents
showed, could only produce three out of six
valuation reports at the time of the visit.
Even in two of the three valuations, it was
discovered that the percentage of work
done was incommensurate with the
amounts of money paid out to contractors.
A series of reports co-produced by Mr.
Ibrahim and Taslim Anibaba, Group Head,
Internal Audit, was, expectedly, not well
received by the FMBN management.
One of such, dated 19 August 2016, was
titled “Summary Report On The Proposed
Renovation/Rehabilitation Works On The 15
-Storey Mamman Kontagora House.
The memo identified a series of financial
regulation breaches, including contract
splitting. The decision to renovate the
Mamman Kontagora House was taken at the
180th meeting of the FMBN Board in
November 2013.
The memo authored by the Internal Audit
Group, of which Mr. Ibrahim was Unit Head,
delivered very damaging assessments of the
procedures adopted for the award and
execution of the contracts.
In the section headed “Internal Audit
Professional Opinion”, the memo stated that
due process was not followed from
inception, while public procurement
approval thresholds were not adhered to in
some of the contracts.
“Though there was an attempt to correct
some anomalies, especially on contracts that
exceeded the Board’s approval threshold of
the sum of N250million (i.e by obtaining
Minister’s ratification on the contracts above
N250million threshold earlier approved by
the erstwhile FMBN Board), but that still did
not suffice as the then Minister categorically
stated in the letter addressed by the Bank to
the Minister on ratification of approvals,”
stated the memo.
The Minister, according to the letter
referenced, wrote: “MD (FMBN): Ratified but
please proceed in line with all extant
procurement laws and financial
regulations.”
The memo also said the Internal Audit Group
observed contract splitting in the award of
jobs of renovating the building could have
been assigned to a single contractor with
requisite experience and capacity for
execution.

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