Whistleblowing for sustainable value

WHISTLEBLOWING FOR
SUSTAINING VALUE
Oyewole O. Sarumi |PhD|

What You will Learn….
 WhistleBlowing – Definitions
 Types of Whistleblowing
 When and How to Whistleblow
 Criteria for Justifiable Whistleblowing
 The Pros & Cons of Whistleblowing
 Whistleblowing & Ethics
 Whistleblowing Policy in Organisations
 The Value of Whistleblowing
 Case Studies
 Whistleblowing Situations in Nigeria
 Conclusion

Opening Glee Quotes:
“Our lives begin to end the day we become
silent about things that matter.” - Martin
Luther King, Jr.

Whistle-blowing is…
 'raising concerns about misconduct
within an organization or within an
independent structure associated
with it‘ (Nolan Committee on
Standards in Public Life)
 'bringing an activity to a sharp
conclusion as if by the blast of a
whistle‘ (Oxford English Dictionary)
 'giving information (usually to the
authorities) about illegal and
underhand practices‘ (Chambers
Dictionary)

Whistle-blowing is…
 The release of information by a
member or former employee of
an organisation that is evidence of
illegal and or immoral conduct in
the organisation or conduct in the
organisation.
 Whistle Blowing can only be done
by an member in the organisation
not a witness of a crime or a
reporter.

Types of Whistle blowing
 Internal Whistle blowing
 is made to someone within the
organization.
 Personal Whistle blowing
 is blowing the whistle on the
offender
 here the charge is not against the
organization or system but against
one individual
 External Whistle Blowing
 For an external issue not directly
affecting one as an individual

When to Blow the Whistle
 Knowledge of inappropriateness
 Making proprietary software
available to public
 Back door/booby-trap in code
 Embezzlement or redirection of
funds
 Bad claims
 Unrealistic date projection
 Advertising hype
 Knowledge of impending doom

How to Blow the Whistle
 Do it anonymously
 let the evidence speak for
itself and protect yourself if
possible
 Do it in a group
 charges have more weight
and won’t seem like a
personal vendetta.
 Present just the evidence
 leave interpretation of facts
to others.

How to Blow the Whistle
 Work through internal
channels
 Start with your immediate
supervisor or follow the
standard reporting procedure
 Work through external
channels
 go public (biggest risk)

CRITERIA FOR JUSTIFIABLE
WHISTLE BLOWING

Criteria for Justifiable Whistle Blowing
 The firm through its product or policy will do serious
and considerable harm to the public, whether in the
person of the user of its product, an innocent
bystander, or the general public.
 Once an employee identifies a serious threat to the
user of a product or to the general public, he or she
should report it to his or her immediate superior and
make his or her moral concern known. Unless he or
she does so, the act of Whistle blowing is not
justifiable.

 If one's immediate superior does nothing effective
about the concern or complaint, the employee
should exhaust the internal procedures and
possibilities within the firm
 This usually will involve taking the matter up the
managerial ladder, and if necessary and possible
to the Board of Directors.

 In addition
 Whistleblower must have accessible documented
evidence
 that would convince a reasonable, impartial observer
that one's view of the situation is correct,
 and that the company's product or practice posses a
serious and likely danger to the public or to the user of
the product.

 In addition
 The employee must have good reason to believe that
by going public the necessary changes will be brought
about.
 The chance of being successful must be worth the risk
one takes and danger to which one is exposed.

But then why is it so difficult?

Ethical Dilemma…1
 The Mum Effect --reluctance to blow the whistle
 Audit report may contradict the best judgment and vested
interests of the powerful players backing a project; fear
of reprisals

Ethical Dilemma…2
 The Deaf Effect --reluctance to hear the whistle
 “ I wrote lots of reports. I escalated things as much as I
could, but in the end, they said, ‘We really appreciate
your efforts, but thanks, but no thanks’”

Ethical Dilemma…3
 The Blind Effect --reluctance to see the need to blow
the whistle
 Established audit functions do not operate effectively
because they try to conceal the information from
management

Moral Dilemma
 Many questions arise:
Who to tell?
Responsibility?
Process?
 Moral Distress:
Discomfort
Cant sleep
stress

Internal Reporting….
 Hitting a brick wall:
 Supervisors response
 Threats
 Intimidation
 Isolation/fear
 Career risk
 Job loss/demotion
 Reputation risk
 Health concern
 Financial consequences

Fear & Doubt
 Will I be viewed as a “rat” who
ratted out the company?
 I will be resented by my
colleagues
 Stress could lead to resorting to
drinking, self-destructive
behaviour
 If I lose this job, what will my
family do?
 What if “those” guys find out and
harm me?

Statistics
 Polling Group:
 233 individuals polled,
40% responded
 Average age : 47
 Employed for 6.5 years
at job
 Almost all lost job
Source: http://legacy.ncsu.edu/CSC379/lectures/wk16/lecture.html
 Positive Effects:
 20% felt their actions resulted in positive changes
 More than 50% (of responders) would do it again
 Negative Effects:
 51% of gov’t employees
lost their job
 82% harassed by superiors
 69% watched closely after
blowing the whistle
 63% lost job responsibilities
 60% fired
 10% attempted suicide

Responsibility
 Who is responsible?
 Institution?
 Employees?
 How can the employees be
held responsible if they are
not educated in the
institution’s expectations?

Warning Signs
 If someone tells you…
 • “Well, maybe just this once…”
 • “No one will ever know..”
 • “It doesn’t matter how it gets done as
long as it gets done.”
 • “It sounds too good to be true.”
 • “Everyone does it.”
 • “Shred the document.”
 • “We can hide it.”
 • “No one will get hurt.”
 • “We didn’t have this conversation.”

Whistleblowing Benefits
 Stopping Fraud Saves $$
 Faith in the Justice System
 Concern for Public Safety
 Faith in Institution
 Ethical Standards

Benefits to Organisations
 Increased shareholders confidence.
 Enhances corporate social responsibility.
 Protects everyone’s interest.
 Exposure to risk reduced.
 Prevents injuries and ensuring legal action.

Whistleblowing Is Effective!
 The workforce is a powerful ally
 Encourage comfort in raising issues
 Protection is essential
 Credibility: respond quickly!
 Marketing—post statistics!
Source: N. Baker, “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil: Effective whistleblower programs
encourage employees who witness company wrongdoing to speak out rather than look the
other way,” Internal Auditor, April 2008

So what can companies do?
 Lawyers and ombudsman point to these measures:
 First, legislate so that whistle blowing has a sound legal
basis.
 Two, companies must ensure that those who come forward
are not persecuted and the matters are investigated
promptly.
 Similarly, the government must also set up mechanisms to
ensure speedy disposal of claims. (If they could set up
information officers under the Right to Information Act they
can do the same in this case as well.)
 And, lastly companies must ensure that whistle blowers
aren't persecuted.

The Pros of Whistleblowing
 Public safety - One of the principle reasons to
blow the whistle on illegal or unethical activities is to
protect the public, colleagues or others from risk.
 Moral responsibility - Blowing the whistle out of
a sense of moral obligation is generally regarded
as the best reason to do so.

Cons of Whistleblowing
 Retaliation - One of the primary disadvantages
of blowing the whistle is the potential retaliation
you face from management and colleagues.
 Conflicts of Interest - For many potential whistle-
blowers, the conflict of interest between serving
one's company, co-workers and friends and
protecting the public is very real and challenging.

In a recent study by Griffith University, it
was reported that over 38% of
employees witnessed wrongdoing in the
workplace and decided not to report
due to a lack of belief “anything would
be done about it”.

YouGov and charity organisation
Public Concern at Work found that
22 percent of the 2,017 adults
surveyed feared retaliation for
whistleblowing.

Whistle-blowing policy…..
A whistle blowing policy encourages staff to
speak out if they have legitimate concerns
about wrongdoings, as distinct from individual
grievances, and establishes an accessible
procedure for doing so.

When is Whistle-blowing ethical?
When the employee identifies a serious threat of harm,
he or she should report it and state his or her moral
concern.
The employee must have documented evidence that is
convincing to a reasonable, impartial observer that his
or her view of the situation is accurate, and evidence
that the firm’s practice, product or policy seriously
threatens and puts in danger the public or product user.

The employee must have valid reasons to believe that
revealing the wrongdoing to the public will result in
the changes necessary to remedy the situation.

When is Whistle-blowing unethical
Whistle-blowing must be questioned if:
Motivation is the opportunity for financial
gain or media attention
Employee is carrying out a vendetta
against the company
 Key point – better be very sure of your facts
and your evidence better be irrefutable
before blowing the whistle

Arguments against Whistle Blower
Protection
 Firstly, Law recognises whistle
blowing as a right is open to abuse:
Employees might find an excuse to
blow the whistle in order to cover up
their own incompetency or
inadequate performance.
 Secondly - Legislation to protect
whistle blowers could add on rights
to employees and make an
environment difficult for managers
to run company effectively.

Arguments for Whistle Blower
Protection
 Firstly - Defence of the
Law protect whistle
blowers to provide best
contributions to the society.
 Secondly - Defence of the
Law supports the right of
an employee on his
freedom to speech

Benefits And Danger Of Company
Whistle Blowing Policy
 Benefit in learning mistakes
and problems in early
stage itself.
 Shows companies
commitment towards good
ethics and ethical corporate
climate.
 Legitimate complaints
sends wrong signal to
other employees to
whistle blow in case of
tension or strike.
 Employee may go
outside of normal
communication channel
which is undesirable.
BENEFITS DANGERS

Components Of Whistle- Blowing
Policy in Organizations
 1. An effective communicated
statement of responsibility
 2. A clear defined procedure of
reporting
 3. Well trained personal to
receive and investigate reports.
 4. A commitment to take
appropriate action.
 5. A guarantee against
retaliation-reports in good faith.

WHAT ARE THE VALUE OF
WHISTLEBLOWING?

Is Whistleblowing Valuable?
 A Whistleblower program shows your
commitment to develop a ‘speak up’ culture that
values employees. The tone is set at the top – illegal
behaviour and wrongdoing will not be tolerated.

Benefits/Value of Whistleblowing
 Strengthen corporate
governance by bringing
transparency to the fore.

1. EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT
 The early reporting of
inappropriate conduct including
bullying in the workplace,
fraud, corruption, bribery, work
health and safety and sexual
harassment can reduce &
eliminate financial and
reputation risk.

2. CURTAILING WORKPLACE BULLYING
 Employees are your greatest
asset; however, employee
misconduct can be our
greatest liability. So
Inappropriate workplace
behaviour, and in particular
bullying, is a growing concern
in the workplace that WB can
help curtail.

3. FRAUD DETECTION
 The 2014 Report to the Nation on
Occupational Fraud and Abuse by the
Association of Certified Fraud
Examiners (ACFE) found typical
organisations lose 5% of its annual
revenue to fraud.
 The median duration — the amount of
time from when the fraud commenced
until it was detected — for the fraud
cases reported was 18 months. The
ACFE concluded tip offs from
employees being consistently and by
far the most common detection
method.

4. CORPORATE CULTURE
 The tone is set at the top.
 Successful whistleblowing policies require
leadership from the Board, CEO, audit
committee, directors, officers and
management.
 In a recent four year study by Griffith
University into how organisations can help
maintain their integrity and value their
employees, the two key messages were:
 An organisation can and should adopt a
policy of ‘when in doubt report’ to encourage
the reporting of wrongdoing.
 Organisations need to improve their
performance in supporting and protecting
persons who come forward with reports of
wrongdoing.

5. GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
 Strengthen corporate
governance by bringing
transparency to the fore.
 It’s important for us to have
a sound corporate
governance system
supported by policies and
procedures that comply
with the Standards.

6. COMPANY AND COMPANY
OFFICERS PROTECTION
 Liability for failing to provide
adequate protection to a
company and its officers now
extends beyond damage to
brand and image to
substantially increased
penalties and fines to the
company and to imprisonment
and substantial fines for
Directors, Officers and
Managers.

7. WORKPLACE SAFETY
 Occupational health and safety
management for employees,
customers, and visitors is covered by
a myriad of laws and regulations.
 The development and
implementation of an appropriate
occupational health and safety
management framework includes
effective reporting of concerns to
the management along with an
external facility to report concerns
anonymously.

8. SECURE COMPANY EQUIPMENT
 The most important asset to a
Company are its people.
 The second most important
asset is its capital including
equipment. Personal safety
and protection of company
equipment is of critical
importance in any workplace
for a company, employees,
customers, and visitors.

How to Create a “Speak Up”
Culture—From the Top Down
 So how do you create a proactive culture of ethics and compliance, from
the top down? According to Mary Bennett, vice president of NAVEX
Global’s Advisory Services team, taking the following five steps can make a
significant difference:
 Communicate to your employees, managers and other key stakeholders (such as
third parties) to ensure they understand their duty to report, and provide
assurance against retaliation.
 Reinforce the message across multiple channels, including posters in break
rooms, screen savers and other awareness-raising campaigns.
 Integrate your commitment to a speak-up culture into all aspects of employee
life, from periodic policy reviews to informal discussions at team meetings.
 Train your stakeholders regularly to bring whistleblowing and anti-retaliation
policies to life and ensure that everyone understands your policies.
 Review your programme regularly to ensure that your employees are reporting
incidents through policy management software and that management is
responding to these issues in an appropriate way.

 “Effective whistleblowing arrangements are a
key part of good governance. A healthy and
open culture is one where people are encouraged
to speak out, confident that they can do so
without adverse repercussions, confident that
they will be listened to, and confident that
appropriate action will be taken. This is to the
benefit of organisations, individuals and society
as a whole. (Report by the Whistleblowing
Commission, 2013)

Case Study: Challenger
 January 28, 1986, Space
Shuttle Challenger exploded
72 seconds into its flight,
killing all 7 crew members.
 The flight received much
media attention because a
teacher, Christa McAuliffe,
was on board.

Challenger: What Went Wrong
 Explosion caused by O-ring
failure between segments of
the booster rockets.
 Several employees of the
manufacturer, Thiokol, had
been aware of the O-ring
deficiencies.
 No one listened to the
engineers who knew about the
problem

Challenger: Major Players
 Roger Boisjoly, seal specialist
at Thiokol - Directed task
force for a year to study the
evidence that hot gases
eroded O-rings
 Allan McDonald, manager of
solid-rocket motor program
 Larry Mulloy, NASA official,
manager of booster
programs
 George Hardy, NASA official

Challenger: Timeline
 July 31, 1985
 Boisioly wrote a memo
saying, “it is my honest and
very real fear that if we do
not take immediate action to
solve the problem [the
company could] stand in
jeopardy of losing a flight.”
 No conclusive evidence to
back up memo

 January 27, 1986, the day before lift-off
 McDonald was worried about temperatures dropping to 22
degrees overnight.
 14 engineers “fought like hell” to get permission to present
to NASA
 All 14 Thiokol engineers recommended postponing the
launch
 Mulloy and Hardy challenged the recommendation
 Mulloy: “When do you want me to launch, next April?”
 Hardy: recommendation “appalled” him
 Thiokol: Management reversed the recommendation for
postponement

 After the explosion
 McDonald
 Went public
 Demoted by management
 Public outcry and
Congressional investigation
led to a reversal of that
decision and a promotion
instead
 Became spokesman for
Thiokol and new rocket
boosters

 Boisjoly
 “I hope and pray that I have not
risked my job and family security by
being honest in my conviction”
 Never worked on a shuttle again
because it was too painful
 Wondered if there was more he
could have done, even though the
record shows he minced no words
 Reassigned by management with
altered responsibilities
 Took leave of absence, a year later
went on disability

 Later Repercussions
 Boisjoly sued Thiokol for $1 billion
in personal suit
 Dismissed because Thiokol’s actions
were ruled not to have been
designed to cause him distress
 Biosjoly sued Thiokol for $2 billion
under False Claims Act
 Filed on premise that Thiokol falsely
certified safety and knew that the
rockets they supplied to NASA were
defective
 Dismissed in 1988: Judge ruled that
decision to launch was not a false
claim, but an engineering judgment
with which other engineers
disagreed, and that NASA also
knew the facts behind the
allegations, and was not deceived

Challenger: Questions
 What effects did Boisjoly and McDonald
face when they blew the whistle?
 Why did NASA not listen to the
engineers?
 Why did Thiokol to reverse its decision
even though they knew it was incorrect?
 Would you have blown the whistle
differently than Boisjoly and McDonald?
If so, how?
 Did McDonald go public at the right
time?

Case Study- Satyendra Dubey
 The Golden Quadrilateral (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkotta
& Chennai)...
 the end of the road for Satyendra Dubey.

Case Study- Satyendra Dubey
 A 31 year old IIT – Kanpur Civil Engineering
graduate.
 Employee of National Highways Authority of India.
 Assigned Prime Minister’s pet project – The Golden
Quadrilateral, to connect the four corners of India.
 Was posted at Koderma, Jharkhand as project
director he would be in charge of releasing funds
for an extensive swathe of the under-construction
highway.

Findings in the Golden Quadrilateral
Project
 Sloppy project reports
 Contracts awarded on basis of forged documents
 Huge advances doled out to contractors
 Rampant subletting to petty contractors who lacked the
technical ability to work on this mega-project (Dubey
discovered that the contracted firm, Larsen & Toubro,
had been subcontracting the actual work to smaller low-
technology groups, controlled by the local mafia).
 Everyone from Govt. engineers to MNC construction
companies to local thugs seemed involved in “LOOT OF
PUBLIC MONEY”

What did Dubey do?
 Wrote a letter to his boss, NHAI Project Director SK
Soni, and to Brig Satish Kapoor, engineer
overlooking the supervision, there was no action.
 Wrote a letter to the PM
 Dubey also sent the same letter to the chairman of
NHAI.
 Mr. Dubey anticipated trouble and wrote a second
letter, again requesting anonymity but was ignored.

The Blind/Deaf Effect
 The PMO didn’t bother either to investigate
 For in an act of murderous negligence, the PMO
handed over both the letter and the sheet with
Satyendra’s particulars to the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways.
 At least eight officials scanned it before passing it
on to the National Highway Authority of India.

Whistle Blowing Murder
 In 2003, Dubey was found dead in Gaya…


Today…
 Almost 50,000 citizens have signed a petition
demanding action from the government
 The media is closely monitoring the twists and turns
taken by an increasingly bizarre investigation
 As for the GQ project, Supreme Court is still
investigating

 Many individuals have exemplified Whistle
Blowing…
 2002: Year of the Whistleblower
 Cynthia Cooper WorldCom
 Coleen Rowley FBI
 Sherron Watkins Enron

Sherron Watkins
 Former Vice President of Enron
Corporation
 Alerted then-CEO Ken Lay in August 2001
to accounting irregularities within the
company
 Warned that Enron 'might implode in a
wave of accounting scandals.'
 Testified before Congressional Committees
from the House and Senate investigating
Enron's demise.
 Lauded in the press for her courageous
actions, but left her job at Enron after a
few months when she wasn't given much to
do

Coleen Rowley
 FBI staff attorney
 Wrote 13-page memo to FBI
Director about pre-9/11
intelligence in May 2002
 Testified for the Senate
Judiciary Committee
 Concerned the FBI was
becoming more bureaucratic
and micromanaged
 Helped government focus on
better intelligence
management

Cynthia Cooper
 WorldCom’s Director of Internal
Audit
 Her team discovered $3 billion in
questionable expenses
 Met with 4 executives to track down
and explain the undocumented
expenses
 Disclosed findings, WorldCom stock
frozen, corporate credit rating went
from B+ to CCC-
 Remained as VP of Internal Audit,
not promoted, no gratitude, resented
by employees

 In 2014, World stood still with
a shocking revelation from a
computer analyst Edward
Snowden.
 A computer analyst
whistleblower who exposed
top-secret NSA documents
leading to revelations about US
surveillance on phone and
internet communications.
Edward Snowden

During the time where “free internet”, rights of a “netizen”, “internet
security” were hot topic for debates this kind of news and revelations
created huge storm to the Government and trust worthiness of citizens
of the country. Government and authorities even the President himself
appeared for an explanation to this incident. Even with much efforts
government has retrieved its falling name and trust of its citizens. As
subject of controversy Snowden is variously called as a “traitor”,
“hero”, a whistleblower and even as “patriot”. For some he is a traitor
who worked for Dell broke the country’s security code to retrieve
classified information. For some he is a hero who is courage's enough to
pull those ‘black loops’ of the government and Nations Security
Intelligence.
His US Passport has been cancelled and he fled to Russia for granting
asylum. At present he is in Moscow with a temporary 1 year asylum.

Dilemma
 1. Is Edward Snowden who is an employee under
Dell Computer exposed the classified information
to public media against the government
authorities and law a “corporate traitor”?
 2. Is Edward Snowden who revealed a corporate
crime that remind the public about the so called
“internet security” veil is so transparent even the
authority can bypass through security access of
public. By this Act do he resembles a “patriot”
who stood for public interest?

My View Towards The Case Study
 We like to be in favor of Act done by the Edward
Snowden, because the real victim of the issue wasn’t
Edward Snowden himself but the general public, if
such an crime isn’t exposed the public would be
unaware of cyber crime or related corporate crime
they would be exploited. In other terms we like to
believe him as patriot than a traitor.

Whistleblowing – Nigeria case
studies

GUIDELINES FOR WHISTLE BLOWING FOR BANKS AND
OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA.
 Efforts have been made to curtail bad practices
and serious wrongdoings within the Nigerian
banking system. These efforts are evident within
some statutory provisions,3 but primarily, the
Guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) in 2012.
 These Guidelines consider how best to promote
good corporate governance and directs banks and
non-financial institutions to implement policies to
facilitate the whistleblowing framework.

 While it would be unjust to disregard this effort, the
CBN Guidelines fall short of offering a robust
mechanism to protect the whistleblowers themselves.
The Guidelines offer no internal mechanisms or
procedures to cater to a whistleblower in the event
that their identity is exposed.

 This means there is still a chance that the
whistleblower may report an incident and remain
unprotected. This further illustrates that there are no
strong measures in place to ensure that the
whistleblower will not face a serious disciplinary
sanction, unfair dismissal or suffer discrimination
from their employers.

 In 2012, the CBN issued Guidelines for banks and
other financial institutions in Nigeria. The Guidelines
were created to provide stakeholders and
employees with the opportunity to report acts that
may constitute a fraud, unlawful behaviour or a
failure to comply with bank related directives.
 The aim of the Guidelines is therefore to encourage
and further uphold good corporate governance
practices and in doing so, also maintain consumer
confidence.

 The Whistleblowing Guidelines also provide that the
Board of Directors of banks and other financial
institutions are required to implement a
whistleblowing system and additionally, set up a
policy for stakeholders and employees.

 Section 4.0 of the Guidelines provides that the
anonymity of the whistleblower needs to be
ensured. This section also provides that ‘no bank, or
financial institution shall subject a whistleblower to
dismissal, redundancy, termination, undue influence,
duress, withholding of benefits, and any other act
that may have a negative impact on the
whistleblower.’

 However, whilst the Guidelines provide this
protection for whistleblowers, it fails to provide
recourse in the case that a whistleblower faces any
of the above challenges.

ICAN N50 million Whistleblower
Protection Fund
 In the absence of a culture of
whistleblowing in public or
private sectors of the economy,
the N50 million Whistleblower
Protection Fund established by
the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) is
laudable and deserves the
support of all stakeholders in the
difficult battle against vices such
as fraud, corruption and
mismanagement.
Culled from: The Citizen Ng

 The Fund is aimed at protecting ICAN members
and the public from any reprisals or victimization in
the event of an alarm raised. It is supposed to assist
whistleblowers in litigation expenses reasonably
incurred, and to assist members of the institute in the
discharge of duties
Culled from: The Citizen Ng

UAC OF NIGERIA -
Whistle Blowing Policy
 Objective of Whistle Blowing Policy The objective
of this policy is to encourage everyone, whether
part‐time or full time employees, agents,
contractors, suppliers, staff of suppliers, customers
or people however remotely related to the
company, to report any business misconduct without
risk to themselves or any inhibition or victimisation.
Appropriate incentives will be offered to a
whistle‐blower whose action significantly promotes
the Company’s interests.

Lawyers Advocate Whistleblowers In
Nigeria Legal System
 Some Legal Practitioners in the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) and Mararaba in Nasarawa State have
advocated enactment of a law to legalise
whistleblowers in the country’s legal system.
 Mr Umar Abdullahi, told NAN that having
whistleblowers in the country’s legal system would check
and regulate excesses in the system. Abdullahi said a
whistleblower would help the system because people
would be cautious. Also, Mr Luka Haruna,
said enshrining whistle-blowing in the legal system
would open up the space in the administration of justice
in Nigeria.
Source: http://leadership.ng/news/494704/lawyers-advocate-whistleblowers-nigeria-legal-system

Sanusi The Whistleblower And The
Nigerian Laws
 When the suspended CBN governor Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi “blown the lid off a monumental scandal” in
which the sum of $20,000,000,000.00 was alleged
to disappeared from the public treasury, many
Nigerians vowed that this was over.
 He was later charged for fraud and other related
offences to silence him.

The Position of Nigerian Legislation
 At present, there is no specific legislation that
directly deals with whistleblowing. In the event that
a person wants to whistleblow, protection for the
identification of whistleblowers can be found in S.39
(1) of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission
(Establishment) Act 2004 and S.64 (1) Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act
2000.

 However, if the identify is for any reason
compromised, there is no system in place which
offer further protection. These are similar
challenges as presented by the CBN Guidelines
discussed earlier.
 The implementation of the Whistleblower Protection
Bill is therefore highly welcomed.

 As at the time of this conference, there is no provision,
either in an Act of National Assembly or a Law of any
state expressly protecting whistleblowers, either in the
public or private sectors in Nigeria.
 It is high time therefore Nigeria gets its own
whistleblower protection legislation, just like South
Africa, Japan, and the US where whistleblowers are
even rewarded and celebrated and cannot not be
dismissed, victimized, prosecuted or ‘sacked’ by their
employer.

 There are two bills before the National Assembly
seeking to protect disclosures made in public interest
and whistleblowers as at May 2004.
 The bills have not been passed into law. The first bill is
captioned “WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION BILL, 2008”
(H.B. 117). It seeks to provide for the manner in which
individuals may in the public interest disclose
information that related to unlawful or other illegal
conduct or corrupt practices of others and to provide
for the protection against victimization of persons who
make these disclosures. Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju
Solomon sponsored the bill.

 In 2012, A BILL that seeks to protect persons who
expose corrupt practices in the country scaled its
second reading in the House of Representatives.
 Sponsored by Hon. Karimi Sunday Steve,
representing Yagba Federal Constituency in Kogi
State, the bill has been passed to the House
Committee on Justice for further legislative
deliberations.

 According to Karimi, the major objectives of the
proposed law include ensuring “that a patriot or
whistleblower is protected in law for making
disclosures; that he/she does not suffer any form of
discrimination or victimisation; that persons
authorised to receive disclosure keep it confidential
and take requisite action to assist the investigation
or stop the improper act and encourage
whistleblowers as they are paid from the
whistleblower fund.”

 The second bill which is the most recent is captioned
SAFEGUARDED DISCLOSURE (WHISTLE BLOWERS,
SPECIAL PROVISIONS, ETC.) BILL, 2009 (H.B 167). It
seeks to make provision for the procedure in terms of
which persons employed in the public and private
sectors may disclose information regarding unlawful
and other irregular practices and conduct in workplace
and to provide protection against any occupational
detriment or reprisals of a person making such
disclosures. The bill has been sponsored by Honorable
John Halims Agoda.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards Odyssey into
Whistleblowing
 The level of profligacy in the public sector as
exposed by one Mr. Nicholas Edwards, a staff in
the Ministry of Aviation has brought to the fore the
importance of whistle-blower’s in Nigeria. The
Achilles heel of whistle-blowing in Nigeria is the
absence of laws guiding whistle-blowing and
guarding whistle-blowers. This might be one of the
reasons Mr. Edwards who is considered as the
“aviation ministry Edward Snowden” has been on
the run since the report got to the public domain.

WHISTLEBLOWER IN DANGER WHISTLEBLOWER
PROTECTION ALERT FOR MR. AARON KAASE
 Mr Aaron Kaase is a public officer with Nigeria’s
Police Service Commission (PSC) with a principled
opposition to systemic fraud and abuse of office in
public life. His stance led to a plot of persecution at
work and human rights violations, including frivolous
criminal prosecution based on manufactured
narratives aimed at silencing him after he blew the
whistle to reveal serious allegations of possible
fraud in the PSC involving the Chairman and
Nigeria’s former Inspector-General of Police, Mr.
Mike Okiro.

Whistleblower Protection
 Whistleblower protection is generally not a new
concept. In the UK for instance, there is the Public
Interest Protection Act 1998 which provides a
framework of legal protection for individuals who
disclose information so as to expose malpractice.
 In Jamaica, there is the Protected Disclosures Act,
2011 which is based on the UK’s Public Interest
Disclosure Act and protects whistleblowers in both
private and public sectors. A similar law is also in
South Africa, Ghana, and Uganda.

The 5 Laws President Buhari Will Use
in Fighting Corruption
 VANGUARD reports that Presidency sources disclosed
that a committee of legends in law, led by the Vice-
President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo identified the five bills
which have been passed on to the President for further
scrutiny.
 The bills which may become law for the anti-corruption
fight include:
 Office of the Financial Ombudsman Bill 2015
 National Convicts and Criminal Records Bill 2015
 Electronics Transactions Bill 2015
 Whistle Blower Protection Bill 2015
 Nigerian International Financial Centre Bill 2015

Conclusion
 If Nigerians are really out to fix the problems that
bedevil the country, we must think out of the box
and look out for more stringent measures in fighting
corruption, as desperate times call for desperate
measures.
 It is time to join other forward looking nation and
pass the Whistleblowing Bill into law as FOI Bill
cannot fully compensate for this lack in our polity.

ACTION PLAN – THINGS TO DO
 There is hardly a sector that hasn’t been touched by
a scandal which staff already knew about
beforehand. That’s exactly why I will suggest that
people of like minds join me after this conference to
set up an NGO to be called “Public Concern at
Workplace” (PCaWP) because we have witnessed
in this country series of disasters and scandals
where it was clear staff had known about the risk or
danger, but either were too scared to speak up or
had spoken up only to be ignored.

 All organisations face the risk of unknowingly
harbouring malpractice and so should understand
that it is in their own best interests to know about
risk, danger, and malpractice. Staff are the eyes
and ears of an organisation and so it makes sense
for them to think about how they encourage staff to
speak up. At the same time, they need to recognise
that it can sometimes be difficult to speak up,
especially where it’s about pointing out that
someone has behaved badly and that can be an
uncomfortable thing to do.

Whistleblower’s Credo
“In theory, anyone
who speaks out in
the name of the
public good within
an organization is
a whistleblower.”

Julian Assange Quotes:
 “You have to start with the truth. The
truth is the only way that we can get
anywhere. Because any decision-making
that is based upon lies or ignorance can't
lead to a good conclusion.”
 “Large newspapers are routinely censored
by legal costs. It is time this stopped. It is
time a country said, enough is enough,
justice must be seen, history must be
preserved, and we will give shelter from
the storm.”
 “Intelligence agencies keep things secret
because they often violate the rule of law
or of good behavior.”

But the question is…
Do you have the
courage to blow
the Whistle?

Attributions
 Daniel Ellsberg, Secrets:A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon
Papers, (New York: Viking Penguin, 2002).
 C.F.Alford, Whistleblower: Broken Lives and Organizational Power,
Cornell University Press, NY, 2001.
 A.B. Joy, Whistleblower, Bay Tree Publish, CA, 2010.
 A.S. Kesselheim, D.M. Studdert, M.M. Mello. Whistle-
Blowers’experiences in fraud litigation against pharmaceutical
companies, NEngJMed 362:1832-1838, May 13, 2010.
 Amy Block Joy, Ph.D. A Whistleblower’s Case Study (Blowing The
Whistle On Fraud At The University of California) SCCE Compliance
& Ethics Institute 2012
 Shahzad Khan. Whitleblower. Culled from www.slideshare.com
 Oyewole Sarumi. Whistle Blowing in the Public & Private Sectors.
Culled from www.authorstreams.com

References & Further Readings
 Samar Srivastava. Sound legal basis key to facilitate whistle
blowinghttp://www.firstpost.com/business/sound-legal-basis-key-to-
facilitate-whistle-blowing-792143.html
 Callahan, Elletta Sangrey, and Terry Morehead Dworkin. 1992. "Do
Good and Get Rich: Financial Incentives for
Whistleblowing and the False Claims Act." Villanova Law Review 37.
 Helmer, James B. 2002. False Claims Act: Whistleblower Litigation. 3
d ed. Charlottesville, Va.: LexisNexis.
 Kelly, James. 2002. "The Year of the WhistleBlowers." Time (Decemb
er 30).
 Whistleblowing: A Federal Employee's Guide to Charges, Proceduresan
d Penalties. 2000. Reston, Va.: Federal Employees News Digest.

 Fola Adeyemo. Whistle Blowing: The Position of Nigerian Legislation
in Banking. Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization ISSN 2224-
3240 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3259 (Online) Vol.41, 2015,
www.iiste.org.
 Guidelines For Whistle Blowing For Banks And Other Financial
Institutions In Nigeria. KPMG Newsletter, December 2014
 The case for whistleblowers – The Guardian. Culled from:
http://thecitizenng.com/
 Ibrahim Sule. Sanusi The Whistleblower And The Nigerian Laws.
http://saharareporters.com/2014/03/10/
 Idowu Babajide. Opinion: The role of the whistle-blower in Nigeria –
To be or not to be? http://ynaija.com, November 30, 2013
 Whistleblower Bill Scales Second Reading. Culled from
http://www.informationng.com/2012/05/

 Daniel Kline. Hear it From Employees First: Why
Managers Should Encourage Whistleblowers. From
http://www.navexglobal.com/blog/2014/06/11/

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