Our Reporter, Abuja
The Corruption Anonymous Whistleblowing platform is expected to provide opportunities to report corruption and rekindle interests in the Federal Government’s Whistleblower Policy.
This was stated Thursday by the Minister of Finance, Dr, Zainab Ahmed, at the official launch of CORA whistleblowing platform, a good governance initiative of African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in conjunction with the Yar’Adua Foundation at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre in Abuja.
The minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary (Special Duties), Aliyu Shehu Shikafi, said that at the inception there was widespread enthusiasm for the whistleblower policy by Nigerian citizens, but that excitement waned within two to three years of its taking off. She, however, believes that with the launch of CORA, a civil society-driven secure whistleblowing platform, this will further provide opportunities for citizens to report corruption and other wrongdoings.
“At the inception, there was widespread enthusiasm on the part of Nigerians as they volunteered information which the investigations led to the recoveries of both cash and non-cash assets. Bet regrettably, after about 2-3 years of the implementation of the policy, the interest of the public in the policy began to nosedive.
“In order to reawaken the public consciousness on the policy, a national conference on whistleblowing policy in Nigeria was first held in 28-30 of September 2020, in NAF Conference Centre in Abuja. The event culminated in the charge by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to the ministry to further communicate to all the nooks and crannies of the country, the policy.
“This charge led to the commencement of zonal conferences across the six geopolitical zones of the country of which about four have been done remaining two – that of the South-East and North-Central,” the minister said.
Dr Ahmed had earlier noted that the establishment of the whistleblower policy in Nigeria is a result of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s resolve to rigorously fight corruption in the country, which was one of his campaign promises to Nigerians in the build-up to 2015 general election.
She also singled out AFRICMIL for praises saying that in the past 6-7 years, the civil society organisation has been a close associate of of the Ministry of Finance, and has been “supportive in many ways trying to promote most especially the whistleblowing policy which is domiciled in the Ministry by building capacity of our staff, workshops sensitising the public on the policy, and campaigning for the protection of whistleblowers from retaliation.”
She concluded by saying that she expects those present at the launch of CORA platform to be “change agents that will drive our country to the part of honour by reporting and encouraging others to report same through the channels provided by Corruption Anonymous.”
Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), who was represented by the Special Assistant to the President on Financial Crimes, Abiodun Ayodeji Aikomo, in his remarks commended AFRICMIL, the Yar’ Adua Foundation and MacArthur Foundation for the Corruption Anonymous (CORA) platform, which he identified as “a tool that seeks to strengthen the whistleblowing policy of the Federal government by providing opportunities for citizens to anonymously report corruption and other forms of social ills.”
He also used the opportunity to reel out what he considered to be some of the successes of the Federal Government through the whistleblower policy in fighting corruption which include: drafting of executive orders 6,8 &10; establishment of Asset Recovery and Management Unit in the Ministry of Justice; coordinating the Federal Government’s recovery efforts; preventing the expulsion of the country from the Egmont Group; setting up the NFIU; prosecuting corruption related cases on behalf of the FG; supervising the anti-corruption agencies; preventing corruption through other administrative mechanisms like the Treasury Single Account (TSA), BVN, continuous clean up of the payroll; zero tolerance on corruption by holding high profile citizens responsible; and even prosecuting persons hitherto considered untouchables.
Malami, however, admitted that a lot still needs to be done if the country needs to win the existential battle against corruption.
“Not withstanding the forgoing, the modest successes we have recorded, the reality today is that it is not yet uhuru in the war against corruption. We cannot deceive ourselves; we still have things to do.
“So, one major lesson so far learnt in all of this is that in order to significantly advance the course of Nigeria’s anti-corruption gains in this existential battle, the ordinary people of Nigeria must own and participate as critical stakeholders and allies of the government. The governments at the sub-national level must also in the least show similar commitment as it cannot be and remain a Federal Government palaver. As long as the state governments are not committed to the fight against corruption, it is only about the Federal Government and its agencies, we are not likely to make serious progress,” he stated.
The attorney general also argued that it is indeed ethical to report corruption in the interest of the entire nation contrary to some views and urged citizens to grow a culture that abhors corrupt practices.
In his welcome address, the Coordinator of AFRICMIL, Dr Chido Onumah, noted that citizens have hailed whistleblowing as the most effective strategy for fighting corruption introduced by the current government. Onumah said the goal of the CORA platform is to have citizenry sensitive to its role in the fight against corruption.
“It is important to note that the whistleblowing policy was hailed as about the most effective of all the anti-corruption strategies introduced by the current government. Within one year, the enthusiasm of citizens about the policy soared, leading to massive recoveries of stolen public funds in both local and foreign currencies as announced by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. From December 2016 to July/August 2017, about 5000 whistleblowing tips were received by anti-corruption agencies.”
He however observed that the interest of the citizens in whistleblowing began to wane after some time and had fallen drastically for a number of reasons, which AFRICMIL report had identified.
He traced the lack of enthusiasm in whistleblowing to “lack of knowledge of what to report and the appropriate channel of reporting. There was also the concern of lack of protection for whistleblowers.
“It is against this backdrop that the CORA whistleblowing platform, the civil-society-driven public reporting option that we are launching today, serves as an invaluable tool that would fill the gap in the disclosure channels which have made fighting corruption through whistleblowing a challenging exercise for citizens. The CORA platform will complement the government’s whistleblowing platform managed by PICA and make it much easier for citizens to submit tips anonymously, without fear of being exposed and confident that the tips will be treated.
“Our goal for this project is to have a citizenry that is sensitive to its role in fighting corruption. As Nigerians, we must be aware that the fight against corruption is not one to be left for the government alone. Legally and morally, we all have roles to play, and this is what the whistleblowing policy seeks to ensure,” he said.
Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), who was represented by Mrs Anne Odey, a member of the ICPC board, hailed the CORA platform initiative.
Owasanoye said the platform would assist in the fight against corruption and advised that the platform be made easily accessible to the public and linked directly to the anti-corruption agencies for prompt action.
On his part, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, represented by Wilson Uwujaren, the organisation’s spokesperson, lauded the CORA project. He admitted that quite a number of the arrests made by EFCC came as a result of whistleblowing. He also said the anti-corruption agencies can only do little without the by-in of the citizens.
Dr Garba Abari, Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), represented by the Director of Press, Mr Paul Odenyi, while identifying with the project advised AFRICMIL and Yar’Adua Foundation to extend the whistleblowing platform to election matters.
