Anti-corruption and accountability groups have lamented a lack of legal protections for whistleblowers in the country.
They raised the concerns at a conference organised by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in Abuja on Thursday. The conference was themed “Amplifying Whistleblowing to Reduce Corruption and Protect Human Rights”
In his remarks, the coordinator of AFRICMIL, Chido Onumah, expressed worry that whistleblowers in Nigeria face a lack of safe and enabling environment that allows them to freely report wrongdoing without fear.
He added that, “Whistleblowers in different government agencies increasingly became targets of vicious retaliation in the absence of a protection law and desperate provisions for their safety as captured in Section 6 of the National Whistleblowing Policy.”
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari administration introduced the whistleblower policy as part of its anti-corruption programmes in December 2016.
The policy which recorded initial bursts of tip-offs from the public exposed suspected loot kept in homes and other unlikely places and included a monetary reward for a whistleblower upon a successful recovery.
Mr Onumah cited instances where whistleblowers have faced transfers, salary denials, suspensions, or even dismissal, underscoring the inadequacy of existing safeguards.
Similarly, Kabir Aliyu, representing the National Human Rights Commission, said, “Corruption undermines access to essential services such as healthcare and education, threatening the country’s stability.”
He called for stronger legal protections and increased public awareness to address these issues.