AFRICMIL belittles FMBN over refusal to reinstate whistleblowers

ITREALMS:

The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) has belittled the management of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) over refusal to reinstate whistleblowers, reports ITRealms.

FMBN, ITRealms gathered had refused to comply with the directive of Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, ordering the immediate reinstatement of two officers who were unjustly punished for blowing the whistle on corruption at the bank.

ITRealms also gathered that Mr. Murtala Ibrahim, Head of Special Investigation/ICT in the Audit Department was sacked on May 8, 2017, while his boss, Mr. Taslim Anibaba, Head of Internal Audit department, was placed on indefinite suspension on August 25, 2017.

Reacting to the situation, the Coordinator of AFRICMIL, Chido Onumah, told ITRealms these gentlemen committed no crime other than refusing to be coerced to cover up a doctored 2016 half-year financial report and other mind-boggling acts of corruption in the bank, including the N2.2billion contract for the renovation of Mamman Kontagora building.

“The bank used the manipulated 2016 financial report to fraudulently earn the commendation of Mr. Fashola, the supervising minister of the institution who was misled into believing that the bank recorded profits in the stated period when in fact it recorded a loss,” he said.

Accordingly, Fashola had ordered an investigation of the case and issued an order of immediate reinstatement of Messers Murtala Ibrahim and Taslim Anibaba but the management of FMBN has brazenly flouted the minister’s directives, refusing to reinstate the sacked and suspended staff while offering no explanation.

“It is unfortunate that the bank has refused to obey the minister’s directive. We view this as an act of gross insubordination and grave insult to the person and office of the Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing,” Onumah noted.

He said the bank’s attitude constitutes serious threat not only to the successful implementation of the whistleblower policy, but also endangers the anti-corruption campaign of the current administration.

Onumah reiterated the need to ensure the safety and protection of whistleblowers, adding that if people do not get protection they are not likely to report wrongdoings. This, he said, would render the whistleblower policy ineffective.

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FMBN Whistle-blower: AFRICMIL charges Fashola to reinstate sacked staff

ITRealms:

The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) has called on Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, to order the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of Mr. Murtala Ibrahim, a whistleblower who was recently sacked by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), reports ITRealms.

Coordinator of AFRICMIL, Chido Onumah, told ITRealms that Murtala Ibrahim, a Unit Head in the ICT Process Audit and Special Investigation Unit of the bank was unjustly disengaged on May 8, 2017, for blowing the whistle on contract scam and the bank’s manufactured 2016 Half-Year Validation Report.

According to AFRICMIL, “The Finance and Accounts Group of the bank reported a surplus of income over expenditure to the tune of N423, 653, 187, but on investigation by the Internal Audit Group where Mr. Ibrahim served as the deputy head, it was discovered that the report was doctored, and that the so-called profit was fraudulent. They found out that what ought to have been declared was a loss, and not a profit.”

The organization noted that the FMBN, which has never declared profit since its establishment, manufactured the report to deceive the Minister of Power, Works and Housing whose Ministry supervises the bank, into believing that the bank was performing well. It urged Mr. Fashola not to be misled by a report whose sole aim was to cover up the massive fraud and bad management which the bank had experienced over the years.

The statement referred the minister to a Central Bank of Nigeria report which vindicated the audit group that there was indeed no profit contrary to the report of the stated period submitted by the bank’s management. The CBN report also discovered a loss. But where the audit group merely reported a loss without putting a figure to it, the CBN report actually put the loss at about N7billion.

“We request Mr. Fashola to look critically at that CBN report and he would discover that not only was he shamelessly taken for a ride, the management of FMBN also went on to unlawfully sack an officer who was only carrying out his duties in an honest and professional manner,” Onumah said.

According to AFRICMIL, the cruel treatment of Ibrahim by FMBN has again brought to the fore the recurring victimization of officers who report wrongdoings in government offices.

“The persistent victimization in any form of those who are courageous enough to blow the whistle must not be tolerated if the whistleblower policy of this administration must succeed," noting that whistleblowers deserve nothing more than full protection as this will further encourage accountability and enrich the right of the public to know.

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