The government of Nigeria has approved a new whistleblower draft bill even though it lamented that the existing whistle-blowing policy, launched in 2016, was losing momentum.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, revealed this to state house correspondents after the Wednesday Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja.

She also said the council approved the draft bill – Whistleblowers and Witness Protection Bill – to strengthen the fight against corruption and protect whistleblowers that provide helpful information to the federal government.

Ahmed said this bill is critical to ensure the effectiveness of the retention of the policy.

The whistle-blower policy was approved by the federal executive council in 2016; created by the Ministry of Finance for whistleblowers.

However, it was not a law of the National Assembly and hence the policy did not have any legal framework backing it.

The Whistleblower Protection Bill scaled second reading in October 2016. In 2019, the senate reintroduced the bill, which seeks to protect whistleblowers and witnesses.

A similar bill that made provision for financial rewards to encourage citizens who expose corruption was passed by the eighth senate in 2017.

Failure of the policy

After the policy was launched in 2016, the Ministry of Finance revealed that in just two months the government was able to recover over $178 million from looters as a direct impact of the policy.

What could have happened if this was the case? This means there is something that was not done right to ensure the smooth actualisation of this policy in achieving its objectives.

According to investigations by Africa Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), the attitude of the government towards the operationalisation of the whistle-blowing policy was responsible for the dwindling interest of Nigerians in whistleblowing.

In the months following the launch of the policy, there were instances of the federal government delaying payment of rewards or reneging on its own part of the commitment.

Asides from this,  there were reports of whistleblowers being subjected to threats of life, harassment and victimisation by their employers and colleagues for daring to expose corruption.

Findings from AFRICMIL also reveal that three of every four respondents have stopped reporting cases of looted funds due to nepotism, fear of victimisation and stigmatisation, lack of knowledge on the kind of information to report and the appropriate channel to report.

There was also the feeling that no serious action will be taken by the authorities in charge, even if a report is made.

These cracks in the implementation have slowed and threatened the success of the policy.

The Executive Director of Whistle Blowers Anti-Corruption Network (WARN), Gabriel Onwe, who spoke to Development Diaries, highlighted some major issues that led to the failure of the policy.

‘There was no protection for whistleblowers, even those who have blown the whistle complained of intimidation, reprisals and so many others, some even had to go to court to seek protection’, he said.

‘Again there is a lack of trust on the part of government because people get tired after being frustrated. Even getting the 2.5 percent compensation that the government promised was difficult’.

He sighted more reasons why the policy failed in the first place.

‘Another reason is that people felt they have not seen any tangible thing done from what has been recovered’, he said.

‘Then the issue of people going to court to testify against people who they blew the whistle for; that is not whistleblowing anymore, it is telling everyone the identity of the whistleblower’.

Standard practice

Many developed countries were quick to form a legal mechanism that guarantees the protection of whistleblowers and encourages active participation by citizens in anti-corruption fights.

The delay in creating a legal framework for Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight sets it at odds with international best practices.

If the Whistleblowers and Witness Protection Bill is signed into law, it will encourage the reporting of corrupt practices in the country.

The government of the United Kingdom has a website where it gave a list of prescribed people and bodies whistleblowers can report to when they have cases. This is to ensure that whistleblowers are not reporting to the wrong persons or bodies.

In South Africa, the country’s Witness Protection Act of 1998 provides protection for whistleblowers. This includes relocation, changing the witness’s identity, and other related assistance, although this protection is limited to people who are to give evidence in court.

In the same vein, Ghana’s Whistleblower Act includes legal protections and remedies for anyone who reports crimes, misconduct or public health dangers.

Available information from the Platform to Protect Whistle Blowers in Africa (PPLAAF) shows that Ghana’s Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) provides legal assistance to victimised whistleblowers and can order retaliation to stop.

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition also developed A Guide to Whistleblowing in Ghana, which contains practical, plainly worded information and advice, and a training manual for civil society organisations and traditional authorities.

Ensuring the success of the policy

Onwe highlighted what will lead to the success of the policy in the long run.

‘If the government can guarantee people their security when they blow the whistle, empowering them to speak up without fear of reprisal, people will participate’, he added.

‘Then the political will, the government should muster enough political will to make sure that this bill is passed into law’.

He said those who were arrested were treated with kid gloves which led to discouragement from the reporters, but if the perpetrators of the crime are duly punished, then people will take reporting the financial crimes seriously.

He also noted that influential voices like religious leaders and traditional leaders should be coerced to help drive the process.

‘When people see that there are influential voices in the bill, people will be encouraged to participate. There should be a constant reminder that will highlight the success of the policy which will also tell of the benefits to derive in blowing the whistle’, Onwe said.

‘The bureaucracy surrounding the payment of whistleblowers is too discouraging, so they should reduce it so that people can be paid immediately’.

The Nigerian government can replicate the countries in which the whistle-blower policy has been successful in order to improve its implementation in the country to ensure that it does not lose momentum.

Photo source: Ministry of Finance