The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has called for accelerated passage of the Whistle Blower Protection Bill.
Magu made the call in Ibadan on Thursday, February 27, 2020, while speaking a one-day capacity building workshop on whistle blowing and the fight against corruption.
Represented by the head of legal and prosecution department of the Commission’s Ibadan zonal office, Dr. Ben Ubi, the EFCC boss argued that the non-existence of a law protecting whistle blowers is impacting negatively on the policy and its potentials in the anti-corruption fight.
“The policy requires legal backing without any further delay. The National Assembly is yet to pass the Whistle Blower Protection Bill into law which does pose danger and exposes the whistle blower to risk and discourage more people from coming up with information to the anti-graft agency,” he said.
According to him, the policy has helped the EFCC in the discharge of its constitutional mandate, through recovery of looted funds for the government.
The event was organised by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) for community-based organisations on whistle blowing.
While delivering his welcome address, AFRICMIL Coordinator, Dr. Chido Onumah, said the Ibadan edition was the third in their effort to engage community-based organisations and grassroots civil society groups across the country in capacity building on the whistle blowing policy.
“The goal is to train local CSOs and CBOs across the country on how they can use the whistle blowing mechanism in demanding for accountability and exposing corruption at the grassroots,” he added.
