FG sets up ‘full-fledged’ Whistleblower unit, recovers N11.6billion - Adeosun

Posted by Factnews | 7 years ago | 1,912 times



…Received 365 Actionable Tips from Whistleblowers

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said the Federal Government has set up a full-fledged Whistleblower Unit with full operation within the Ministry of Finance, adding that it has also recovered N11.6 billion so far from the tips they received since the Whistleblower Policy was launched in December 2016.

Adeosun, who spoke in Abuja at a seminar organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) with the theme, “The Whistleblower Policy and Its Implication for Public Servants,” also disclosed that investigative agencies were billed to embark on study tour of Australia due to that country’s pedigree in whistleblowing.

According to her, much of the success of the policy had relied on the decision of the whistleblower to do the right thing, adding that of the 365 actionable tips received, over half of them came from public servants touching on issues such as contract inflation, ghost workers, illegal recruitments, misappropriation of funds, illegal sale of government assets, diversion of revenues, and violation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) regulations, among others.

Adeosun disclosed that in reviewing the information received, the government noticed that certain types of tips were recurring.

“For example, 39 per cent (144) of the actionable tips relate to misappropriation and diversion of funds/revenue, 16 per cent (60) relate to ghost workers, illegal recruitments and embezzlement of funds meant for personnel emolument, 15 per cent (56) relate to violation of TSA regulation, 13 per cent (49) relate to contract inflation/violation of the Procurement Act and failure to carry out projects for which funds have been released, and 9 per cent (34) relate to non-remittance of pension & NHIS deductions.

“Others include concealed bailout funds and embezzlement of funds from donor agencies,” the minister added.
Adeosun noted that overall, the volume of tips received had been greater and of higher quality than expected when the programme was first adopted.

“We continue to receive information everyday with total communication reaching above 5,000 in July through our various reporting channels,” she said.
However, she pointed out there was still a long way to go, stressing that “part of our work is to analyse trends and take corrective actions”.

“For example, many of the salary, tax and pensions under remittance cases shared a common thread. Several cases where institutions were found to have insufficient funds to meet their obligations often had illegal recruitments, which bloated the wage bill and agencies responded by part paying or short paying salaries, whilst applying to the federal government for salary shortfall payments.

“We are revisiting our procedures for approval of recruitment, which will improve our budgeting and control. Equally, in many cases where revenue has been diverted to accounts outside the TSA, we have reviewed our reconciliation and receipting processes.
“So the information being provided is useful in driving process improvements,” she stated.

She urged civil servants with information on possible misconduct or violations to come forward.
She said: “If as a civil servant, you have information about a possible misconduct or violation that has occurred, is ongoing, or is about to occur, we implore you to come forward and report it.

“You can submit your information anonymously and confidentially through the online portal, by email or by phone, and if you choose to disclose your identity, I assure you that it will be fully protected.

 

 


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