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A media inclined civil society organization working on
building support for the whistle-blower policy of the Federal Government of
Nigeria, the Africa Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) has
raised alarm that whistle blowers in the country are now threat, reports ITRealms.
The Co-ordinator,
African Centre for Media & Information Literacy, Chido Onumah, revealed
that at least, two whistle blowers in the recent past have been sacked.
As said by him, the group expressed worries over recent news
of the sack of another whistle blower by yet another agency of the federal
government, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN.
“The sack of Murtala Ibrahim, an auditor in the bank, for
blowing the whistle and refusing to cover up a contract scam and manufactured
financial report of the bank, is yet another slap on the government’s whistle
blower policy,” AFRICMIL said in a press statement made available to ITRealms.
The sack of Mr. Ibrahim, the group said, “is one case too
many coming at a time when another whistle blower, Mr. Ntia Thompson, is still
battling for reinstatement several months after his sack and over two months
since his recommended reinstatement by the Head of Service of the
Federation”.
AFRICMIL frowned at what it called obvious witch-hunt of the
whistle blower by transferring him from the headquarters to a branch in one of
the States and then following up with a query “which cautioned him for doing
his official work, and when they couldn’t fault his explanation the bank went
on to dismiss Mr. Ibrahim for the ridiculous reason that his service was no
longer needed”.
AFRICMIL demands immediate reinstatement of the whistle
blower while urging Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works, Power and
Housing, whose Ministry oversees the bank, to order a thorough investigation of
the scandal.
On the case of Mr. Thompson, AFRICMIL noted that two
separate letters from the Office of the Head of Civil of the Federation (OHCSF)
signed by Mrs. Nuratu Batagarawa, Permanent Secretary, Service Policies and
Strategies Office, were addressed to Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye, Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking him to take urgent action on the
whistle blower’s case.
The organization expressed regret over failure of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to comply with the directive of the OHCSF
requesting that Mr. Thompson be recalled and all disciplinary procedures
suspended pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation of the case of fraud
at the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA) by the Economic
and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
“The last letter, dated April 5, 2017,” Onumah observed,
“made it clear to Ambassador Enikanolaye that by the provisions of the Public
Service Rules (PSR), the offences alleged to have been committed by Mr.
Thompson were not punishable by retirement from service.”
AFRICMIL unreservedly extends gratitude to the Office of the
Head of Service of the Federation for promptly wading into the matter by
calling for the immediate reinstatement of Mr. Thompson and reiterating its
commitment to safeguarding the policy of government on the protection of
whistleblowers by directing its full implementation by all Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government.
“We hereby call on the federal government to take decisive
action on safety of whistle blowers. If government cannot protect internal
whistle blowers what more can be expected for outsiders and other Nigerians?
“Instead of persecution or victimization, whistle blowers like Mr. Thompson and
Ibrahim ought to be rewarded for their acts of patriotism,” Onumah asserted.
