The Corruption Anonymous (CORA) roundtable organized by the Yar’Adua Foundation in collaboration with the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy was to brainstorm on ways to institutionalize whistleblowing and galvanize stakeholders’ support towards the passage of the Whistleblowing Protection Bill.
The roundtable observed that the government has a duty to fight corruption as contained in Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution, and whistleblowing is one of the tools that can effectively mobilize the citizenry in the fight against corruption.
Whistleblowing breaks the culture of “silence and acquiescence” in the face of injustice against the state; hence Nigerians should understand that whistleblowing is only a natural expression of their fundamental human right to free speech.
As the coalition continues to work towards the passage of the Whistleblowing Protection Bill, the Center is urging the government to strengthen its internal reporting mechanism and guarantee the protection of whistleblowers in the public service from victimization. The government must demonstrate the will to implement the current whistleblowing policy domiciled and operationalized by the Ministry of Finance through the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA).