The Federal Government has announced the payment of N375.8m to 20 whistleblowers, who provided information that led to the recovery of N11.6bn.
The Director of Information, in the Ministry of Finance, Salisu Dambatta in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the payment was only for recovered assets that had been declared free of legal disputes or litigation by the Attorney-General of the Federation.
He added that taxes were removed before the final payments were made to the whistleblowers.
“This payment, which is the first under the Whistleblower Policy, underscores the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in meeting obligations to information providers under the Whistleblower Policy.
“The policy is an essential tool in the fight against corruption.
“The Ministry, therefore, encourages all Nigerians with information on misconduct, violation or improper activity which can impact negatively on Nigeria to report it to the appropriate authority,” he said.
Dambatta said the Whistleblower Policy was recently amended to include the introduction of a formal legal agreement between information providers and the Federal Government.
He said the agreement had already been executed by the Minister of Justice.
He said the amendment was introduced to ensure the protection of the identity of information providers during the payment process.
However, Dambatta declined to reveal the specific recoveries for which the monies were being paid saying that “it may endanger the whistleblowers”.
The Whistleblower Unit is a multi-agency team, resident in Federal Ministry of Finance Headquarters, Abuja.
It is staffed by secondees from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the State Security Service.
