TheCable

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, says the federal government has recovered N700 billion worth of assets and cash through the whistleblower policy.

Speaking with journalists at the national conference on whistleblower policy on Tuesday, the minister said the initiative has been a success since it was introduced in 2016.

“The whistleblower policy has been implemented since 2016 and till date we have been able to recover funds into the treasury,” she said.

“Over N700 billion has been collected in which some are in foreign currencies such as dollars and also some physical assets have been recovered.”

Ahmed lamented that citizens’ interest in reporting cases of corruption has waned, explaining that the disinterest was caused by confusion of citizens about some details of the policy.

The minister said the government is working towards creation of a protection law for whistleblowers which will be drafted by a committee of representatives of anti-graft agencies, office of the attorney-general of the federation and inspector-general of police.

Ahmed said the bill will address complaints received from the public, observations of stakeholders, as well as protect whistleblowers.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the whistle blower policy was developed as a tool towards for exposing corruption in government.

Osinbajo urged developers of the new whistle blower bill to expand the scope of wrongful acts that may be reported by whistleblowers.