The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has called on the National Assembly to implement enabling laws that will protect whistleblowers in the fight against corruption and enhance institutional transparency.
He made the call in Calabar, Cross-River State, at a nationwide sensitisation programme on the implementation of the whistleblowing policy in Nigeria.
Speaking on: ‘Benefits of the whistleblowing policy in the fight against corruption in Nigeria’, Olukoyede stressed the need for solid legislation on whistleblowing that will protect whistleblowers from being victimised and eliminate the bureaucratic hurdles in accessing the financial reward of a whistleblower.
“I reiterate that we need a robust Act of the National Assembly to protect those who risk their lives to make disclosure on issues of corruption in this country. I found it depressing that in a region where deeply rooted corruption undermines development efforts, only Ghana and Senegal have so far enacted the whistleblower protection law in ECOWAS, he said.
The Executive Chairman, who was represented by the Uyo Acting. Zonal Director of the EFCC, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE1 Oshodi Johnson, said the policy should serve as a driving force to sustain the disclosure of corruption and not just a desire for financial reward.
‘The appeal here is that the people should be more interested in whistleblowing that prevents the stealing of public funds rather than recovery, knowing that once funds are looted, the entire loot may never be fully recovered. I appeal to our lawmakers to extract Article 33 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), enabling law that provides measures for the protection of individuals who come forward to report corruption cases,” he said.
Participants at the event were drawn from anti-corruption agencies, lawmakers, and security agencies, including partners and stakeholders in the fight against corruption.
