20 Nigerians to get over $1m whistleblower reward from recovered $36.8m

The Nigerian government says 20 whistleblowers will receive about 375.8 million Naira ($1.2m) for offering information leading to the recovery of over 11.6 billion Naira ($36.8m).

This forms part of the first payment under President Muhammadu Buhari’s Whistleblower Policy launched in December 2016 to help recover looted state funds, the finance ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The payment underscores the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to meet its obligations to information providers under the Whistleblower Policy, which is an essential tool in the fight against corruption,” the statement said.

According to the policy, each whistleblower is entitled to a minimum of five percent of the recovered money after it is transferred into the state coffers.

A false information provider could face prosecution, the amended policy states.

So far, the anti-corruption policy has led to the provision of 337 tips from over 2,000 people at the dedicated Whistleblower Unit which cuts across all security agencies, the ministry disclosed.

However, the amount of money and assets recovered have not been made public.