FG: Whistle blowers will be rewarded, protected
To encourage the exposure of corrupt practices in the country through the act of whistle blowing, the Federal Government has concluded plans to reward and protect those that will provide information leading to the recovery of stolen funds or assets of the Federal Government.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, reiterated this in a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Segun Adeyemi, revealing that the Federal Government will protect the identity of all whistle-blowers, whether in the public or the private sector and also ensure that the information they provide is kept secret.
”For those who may have suffered any backlash as a result of the information they provide, their cases will be reviewed and appropriate mitigating actions taken”, the statement said.
Mohammed said the assurance followed the presentations made to the Presidential Assets Recovery Committee by concerned citizens and groups about the safety of whistle-blowers.
”Whistle-blowers have nothing to fear, because the committee has put in place the necessary measures to safeguard those who give useful information. As a matter of fact, whistle-blowers have everything to gain and nothing to lose,” he said.
The Minister said any whistle-blower whose information leads to the recovery of up to 1 to 5 billion Naira will receive 5% of the amount while any amount above 5 billion Naira will attract 2.5% reward.
“If a whistle-blower provides information leading to the recovery of 10 billion Naira, he will receive 5% of the first 1 billion Naira, 4% of the next 4 billion Naira and 2.5% of the remaining 5 billion Naira as the case may be.
”What we have done by making this information public is to reassure potential whistle-blowers that the plan to reward is real. We are not just saying we will pay all whistle-blowers, but we are letting them know in advance what they are entitled once the information they provide leads to the recovery of looted funds,” the minister added.
