By Ifeyinwa Ogwo :
Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has commenced a 2 day Whistleblower policy programme themed; “Implementation of the Whistle Blower Policy in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Way forward” for the southeast zone at the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Center, Awka in Anambra State.
The programme according to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Dr. Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed who spoke through virtual means is to sensitize the Southeast zone on whistle blower policy which is a result of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to rigorously fight corruption in the country which is one of his campaigns promises to Nigerians during the 2015 general election.
She noted that on the assumption of office, President Buhari set in motion the machinery to strengthen the fight against corruption in Nigeria and in 2016, the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) was established.
She added that the primary goal of the policy is to strengthen the fight against financial crimes and corruption by increasing exposure to financial crimes and rewarding whistle-blowers.
Declaring the event open, Gov. Soludo noted that in as much as the policy is to disclose information about wrongdoings, it should be centered on truth and fact.
“Sometimes, some people tend to report some issues even when they know it is a lie. As much as everybody is encouraged to say what they observe going on around them, it should be the truth.”
He then enjoined everyone to say something when they see wrong things happening around them. The Governor was represented by the Head of Service, Barr. Mrs. Theodora Okwy Igwegbe mni.
Earlier in his welcome address the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ifeatu Onejeme welcomed everyone to the event, noting that whistleblowing has helped the country to recover loot carried away by some individuals.
He noted that corruption has become a household name that is hitting the country badly and efforts to tackle it in the past did not work effectively; with the introduction of the whistle-blower policy, people are coming up to give vital information on corrupt practices.
“We believe that your coming will leave us with new ideas on how to put the policy into practice for the good of our people,” he said.
Commissioner Onejeme was represented by the Permanent Secretary of Finance, Dr. Emenike E. E. Ezenado.
In his paper presentation, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, who was represented by the Zonal Commandant, Enugu EFCC Command Mr. Effiong Ekendo said that the whistle-blower policy was launched to encourage the citizenry to take ownership of the fight against corruption, rather than leaving it in the hands of the anti-graft agencies alone.
He noted that within a few months of its introduction, the Federal Government was able to recover huge sums of money, ad it followed up on the avalanche of tips via sms, emails and phone calls from the members of the public, particularly to the Federal Ministry of Finance’s portal.
“Our sustained onslaught against internet fraudsters around the country has been most successful owing largely to verifiable intelligence the Commission received from concerned members of the public, often this leads to surveillance, arrest, investigation and eventual prosecution in courts,” he said.
Present at the event were representatives from the various MDA’s, Federal Road Safety Corps, Immigration, Nigeria Correctional Service and others.
