Nigerian Government Pays First Batch of Whistleblower Awards

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Nigeria’s whistleblower program, which was enacted in December 2016, has made its first award payments to whistleblowers. The payments, which were awarded to 20 different whistleblowers, totaled N375.8 million ($1.19M) out of total recoveries of N11.6 billion ($36.9M).

Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, praised the new policy when announcing the rewards, calling it “an essential tool in the fight against corruption.” Mrs. Adeosun also discussed recent amendments to the policy, which include the implementation of a formal legal agreement between whistleblowers and the Federal Government and better anonymity protections for tipsters.

Additionally, the minister announced the newly created “Whistleblower Unit,” a multi-agency team run out of the Ministry of Finance and staffed by employees of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force and Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA).

The program has been very effective; it has generated over 2,000 communications and 337 formal tips.

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