Whistleblowing policy and war against corruption
It gives me great pleasure to be in your midst today and I am very delighted to associate with the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, AFRICMIL.
When I got this invitation to be a special guest at today’s event, I had no hesitation in honouring it. The AFRICMIL has been a part and parcel of the anti-corruption campaign of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and this specific Summit coming at a time when we are inching closer to the next general elections, could not have come at a better time.
The organizers of this Summit have deemed it fit to bring us together to evaluate the two years of implementing the whistle-blowers policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. This is a very commendable effort on the part of AFRICMIL. We need to know where we are coming from in order for us to know if we are indeed making advancement towards the intended goal. This thus makes this Summit a very important one, which will no doubt help in advancing the whistle-blower policy and making it more effective.
While the administration of President Buhari has implemented the whistle-blower policy as part of an elaborate strategy in combating corruption, the EFCC has had it incorporated in one form or the other in the EFCC Establishment Act 2004.
Information is key to the successful investigation of any crime – be it financial or otherwise. It is the propeller in any investigation, and it is what aids the efforts of any law enforcement agency.
As a law enforcement agency, we value information because without it, you will hit brickwall in carrying out your security duties. In our experience at the EFCC the whistle-blower has made a tremendous impact our operations. Places, houses, hidden holes that you will never have thought that stolen money will be hidden, the policy has helped us locate and return them back to the Commonwealth.
The various discoveries that we have made in our recovery efforts are out there all over the place. The truth is that the whistle-blower policy has been of great help. There is the case of a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, who stashed money in a recluse property of his in a rustic community in Kaduna. No one in his or her sane mind will have thought that $9,772,000 and £74,000 cash will be chilling enjoying the coziness of air conditioner, all in such a recluse environment in the midst of poor people and bad roads. Definitely there is a sinister motive behind such. But through the whistle-blower policy, this money laundering activity was uncovered. Even our operatives wondered out loud how someone will hide money in such a place. It is shocking how
Of course, you will all remember the humongous $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 cash stashed in the coziness of air conditioners at Flat 7B Osborne Towers, Ikoyi. The Ikoyi discovery left mouths gaping in shock and bewilderment. Such are the magnitude of discoveries that the whistle-blower policy have exposed. In fact, a substantial part of the over N500 billion recovered by the EFCC has been as a result of the whistle-blower policy.
Invariably, it is fair to say that if the Federal Government had not come up with the policy, incorporating the reward component to it, these are monies that would not have been uncovered, and such would have been used to engage in money laundering, bribery and vote-buying.
The reward component of the for whistle-blower in which the whistle-blower gets between two and five per cent payable by the Ministry of Finance is no doubt a legitimate way of making wealth. And of course, the Ikoyi cash whistleblower is obviously a millionaire now. So the whistle-blower policy of the Federal Government is an avenue of earning legitimate income.
Indeed, the whistle-blower policy has come to stay and I am using this opportunity to call on Nigerians to full embrace the policy and see it as their own little way of contributing to the anti-corruption fight. We are also taking the policy a step further by engaging with Nigerians in the Diaspora.
On a lighter note, I want to encourage Nigerians not only to blow their whistles against corruption, but they should go the extra mile to blow their trumpets if need be against corruption. I assure you that at the EFCC we will remain unrelenting in our efforts and will ensure the safety and security of the whistle-blower and the family, because this for them is tantamount to a national assignment.
I therefore wish you a fruitful deliberation at this Summit, as you brainstorm on ways to further move the whistle-blower policy. Be assured of our support. By Ibrahim Magu
When I got this invitation to be a special guest at today’s event, I had no hesitation in honouring it. The AFRICMIL has been a part and parcel of the anti-corruption campaign of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and this specific Summit coming at a time when we are inching closer to the next general elections, could not have come at a better time.
The organizers of this Summit have deemed it fit to bring us together to evaluate the two years of implementing the whistle-blowers policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. This is a very commendable effort on the part of AFRICMIL. We need to know where we are coming from in order for us to know if we are indeed making advancement towards the intended goal. This thus makes this Summit a very important one, which will no doubt help in advancing the whistle-blower policy and making it more effective.
While the administration of President Buhari has implemented the whistle-blower policy as part of an elaborate strategy in combating corruption, the EFCC has had it incorporated in one form or the other in the EFCC Establishment Act 2004.
Information is key to the successful investigation of any crime – be it financial or otherwise. It is the propeller in any investigation, and it is what aids the efforts of any law enforcement agency.
As a law enforcement agency, we value information because without it, you will hit brickwall in carrying out your security duties. In our experience at the EFCC the whistle-blower has made a tremendous impact our operations. Places, houses, hidden holes that you will never have thought that stolen money will be hidden, the policy has helped us locate and return them back to the Commonwealth.
The various discoveries that we have made in our recovery efforts are out there all over the place. The truth is that the whistle-blower policy has been of great help. There is the case of a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, who stashed money in a recluse property of his in a rustic community in Kaduna. No one in his or her sane mind will have thought that $9,772,000 and £74,000 cash will be chilling enjoying the coziness of air conditioner, all in such a recluse environment in the midst of poor people and bad roads. Definitely there is a sinister motive behind such. But through the whistle-blower policy, this money laundering activity was uncovered. Even our operatives wondered out loud how someone will hide money in such a place. It is shocking how
Of course, you will all remember the humongous $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 cash stashed in the coziness of air conditioners at Flat 7B Osborne Towers, Ikoyi. The Ikoyi discovery left mouths gaping in shock and bewilderment. Such are the magnitude of discoveries that the whistle-blower policy have exposed. In fact, a substantial part of the over N500 billion recovered by the EFCC has been as a result of the whistle-blower policy.
Invariably, it is fair to say that if the Federal Government had not come up with the policy, incorporating the reward component to it, these are monies that would not have been uncovered, and such would have been used to engage in money laundering, bribery and vote-buying.
The reward component of the for whistle-blower in which the whistle-blower gets between two and five per cent payable by the Ministry of Finance is no doubt a legitimate way of making wealth. And of course, the Ikoyi cash whistleblower is obviously a millionaire now. So the whistle-blower policy of the Federal Government is an avenue of earning legitimate income.
Indeed, the whistle-blower policy has come to stay and I am using this opportunity to call on Nigerians to full embrace the policy and see it as their own little way of contributing to the anti-corruption fight. We are also taking the policy a step further by engaging with Nigerians in the Diaspora.
On a lighter note, I want to encourage Nigerians not only to blow their whistles against corruption, but they should go the extra mile to blow their trumpets if need be against corruption. I assure you that at the EFCC we will remain unrelenting in our efforts and will ensure the safety and security of the whistle-blower and the family, because this for them is tantamount to a national assignment.
I therefore wish you a fruitful deliberation at this Summit, as you brainstorm on ways to further move the whistle-blower policy. Be assured of our support. By Ibrahim Magu
