By Samuel Malik
Participants at a civil society media round-table have called for the enactment of a law that specifically shields whistle-blowers from punishment.
The meeting with the theme: Whistle-blower Protection: In The Absence Of Relevant Laws In Nigeria, was conveyed by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, IWPR, and brought participants from ministry of Justice, civil society organisations and the media.
“The Media/Civil society round table is a knowledge sharing platform under the Accountable Governance for Security and Justice project intended to strengthen the relationship between media and civil society organisations working in the areas of security and corruption.
“The importance of information in the fight against corruption, and in security cannot be over emphasized but the usual stance of security agencies refusing to disclose information under the guise of “classified” information hampers this fight especially in the light of the recent happenings. Equally, the fear of possible repercussion for exposing both corruption and corrupt officials prevents most Nigerians from coming forward with such information,” Ann Iyonu, Programme Officer, IWPR, said.
As Nigeria tries to shake off the toga of corruption, especially in light of revelations coming from the presidential arms probe panel, the consensus was that someone might have raised the alarm had there been legal guarantees that they would not be victimised or prosecuted.
“Whistle-blowers must feel protected to be able to blow the whistle on corrupt people and the only way this can be done is for there to be adequate laws in this regard,” Aisha Aliyu from Wole Olanikpekun and Co law firm said.
Gowon Joseph, from the Attorney General’s office, said lack of adequate protection could explain why most Whistle-blowers prefer to expose wrongdoings anonymously whether internally or to the media.
Anonymously exposing corruption, though with good intentions, has serious limitations.
“Anonymous whistle blowing by public officers internally or externally by leaking information to those in more senior positions or to the media makes the wrongdoing difficult to investigate, as there could be no one to clarify on the matters raised,” Joseph noted.
It was revealed, however, that there are sections of different laws that offer one form of protection or the other for someone who decides to report a case of corruption. These, members agreed, are not enough, as they do not protect one from dismissal, demotion or some internal disciplinary proceedings. This also explains why the immediate past National Assembly tried to pass the Whistleblower Protection Bill, which was to be known as the Protective Disclosure Act, alongside 45 other bills in 10 minutes before its tenure ended.
Former president, Goodluck Jonathan, did not assent to the bills, meaning whistle-blowers are still largely exposed to reprisals from their bosses or colleagues should they decide to spill the beans.
Even the much celebrated Freedom of Information Act 2011, the legal experts said, is limited in its protection of whistle-blowers.
“The Freedom of Information Act to some extent protects whistleblowers in the public sector by removing legal obstacles that affect disclosure of information. However, this protection is not enough. The Act still leaves the public officer vulnerable to dismissals, suspensions or demotions as a result of making a disclosure. It would be necessary to have a comprehensive whistleblower law that protects whistleblowers from dismissals or suspensions. The Freedom of Information Act does not extend protection to private sector organizations.
“There are limitations as to what can be accessed in the operation of Freedom of Information Act. Only Sections 1 and 3 grant access to information, but as many as ten sections (Sections 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 26) are meant to deny the public access to information,” Joseph explained.
As a way forward, the consensus was that in order to get more people to expose corruption, Nigeria should urgently work towards having a law that either protects whistle-blowers from prosecution or, better still, as witnesses.
Nkemdilim Ilo, a procurement expert with the Public and Private Development Center, PPDC, said as part of whatever law is enacted in this regard, there should be some incentives to further encourage people to report wrongdoings in their places of work. Others did not think Nigerians need incetivising to expose ills in their places of work.
Defending her position, Ilo said this can be temporary until the patriotism in Nigerians blossoms, at which point the necessary amendments can be made to the laws.
“Take the US, for instance, the average American is first loyal and patriotic to the country before the state they come from but here in Nigeria, it’s not so,” she pointed out.
Aliyu said once Nigerians are certain that if they report an issue, it will be dealt with, that is incentive enough to prod others to do same.
Mustapha Hussain, a staff of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, said all government agencies should be mandated to have witness protection guidelines as a way of boosting staff confidence.
He explained that his Commission, as a way of protecting informants, ensures that if a petition is brought against someone, the person does not know who the petitioner is.
At the end of the workshop, the onus was placed on the media to push a campaign for the passage of relevant laws that will protect and encourage whistle-blowers.
“It is our hope that this particular round-table meeting identified practicable ways media and civil society can collaborate to address issues of corruption, especially in the security sector and create awareness on the need to protect whistle-blowers,” Iyonu said.