Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance, says a total of N421.33 million is ready to be paid to various whistle-blowers, including the person whose information led to the recovery of about N13 billion at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Adeosun said this after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“The total amount, which also includes Osborne Road, Ikoyi, is N421, 330, 595. This is for the November batch and it is ready for payment,” Adeosun said.

“The only condition necessary is that the money will be paid to the whistle-blower who signed the agreement, not to any company.

“If we get the court judgement, we have to wait for three months to ensure that there are no encumbrances.

“We will also make sure that all applicable taxes are paid ahead. We will get in touch with the state government where the person is domiciled and we will pay the tax directly to the state and issue the tax receipt.

“We built in these procedures to protect the whistle-blower.”

According to the whistle-blower portal of the Ministry of Finance, “A Whistle-blower responsible for providing the Government with information that directly leads to the voluntary return of stolen or concealed public funds or assets may be entitled to anywhere between 2.5%-5.0% of amount recovered.

“In order to qualify for the reward, the Whistleblower must provide the Government with information it does not already have and could not otherwise obtain from any other publicly available source to the Government.

“The actual recovery must also be on account of the information provided by the Whistleblower.”