The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday critically reappraised the Whistleblowers Policy’s implementation over the past years and approved a bill for transmission to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
The Council lamented that the implementation of the policy had lost momentum and decided that a legal backing should be given it to ensure the realization of its objectives.
According to the FEC, the Executive Bill 2022 if enacted will support the current fight against corruption and assured protection for whistleblowers, who provide information on public finance abuses in the country.
It would be recalled that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government had in December 2016 launched the Whistleblowers policy that was facilitated through the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The policy was introduced to encourage people to voluntarily disclose information about fraud, bribery, looted government funds, financial misconduct, government assets’ damage and other forms of corruption or theft.
Specifically, the policy rewards a whistle-blower, who provides information about any financial mismanagement or tip about any stolen funds to the ministry’s portal with 2.5% to 5% from the recovered funds by the federal government.
