FG Recovers N594.08bn Through Whist-Blower Policy.

Since the adoption of the whistle -blower policy in 2016 , the Federal Government has so far recovered N 594. 09 bn through the policy .

The Permanent Secretary , Special Duties , Ministry of Finance , Budget and National Planning , Dr Muhammed Dikwa, said this at a workshop in Abuja .

Dikwa, according to a statement issued on Thursday night by the ministry , said the whistle- blower policy had come to stay in Nigeria.

He added that Nigeria had joined other countries of the world to accept the policy as a global acceptable norm .

Dikwa noted that the Federal Government decided to introduce the policy to fight corruption and other financial crimes.
He also said that through the policy , the government was able to recover salaries from retired diplomats who were still being paid for almost two years to the tune of N 192 m .

Dikwa added that the policy had assisted in reducing corruption in the public sector .

On the challenges encountered in the course of implementing the policy , the Permanent Secretary highlighted lack of proper legal framework , poor funding , lack of coordination and diverse information among relevant organisations .

Charting the way forward, Dikwa said the Whistle -blower and Witness Protection Bill 2019 was being put together to make the policy effective and provide legal backing and administrative guide for the policy .

He , however, urged participants to critically review the draft bill and make additional input before it could be sent to the National Assembly for parliamentary scrutiny .

The meeting was attended by top officials from ministries of Finance and Justice , representatives from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , National Financial Intelligent Unit , Department of State Service , and members of the civil society .

Copyright PUNCH .

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