Stakeholders in the legal profession, yesterday, lamented the absence of legislation to protect the whistleblower, about eight years after the whistle-blowing policy was introduced by the Federal Government.
In 2016, as a way to get information on certain anomalies in the system, the Federal Government approved the whistle-blowing policy for the country. At a-one day workshop for lawyers on ‘Whistle blowing and Whistleblower Protection in Nigeria’ organised for African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICUM), they stated that the lack of legislation to protect individuals ready to offer information on abnormalities in the system was affecting the policy.
A lawyer, Uche Nwokocha, while speaking on the topic, “Whistle blowing as a tool for fighting corruption and the role of citizens”, stressed that whistle-blowing was relevant in every sphere of human endeavour and was capable of turning things around for the country if properly handled.
She lamented that despite the breakthroughs various governments had made in checking corrupt practices through the policy, inability to protect informants was discouraging people from volunteering information.
“We cannot overlook the importance of this policy in ensuring the workability of the system and helping in the enthronement of good governance,” she stated
She pointed out that the policy in other climes had proven to be a potent weapon effectively deployed to check crimes and corruption in the system and urged the Federal Government to find ways of making the policy to serve the best interest of the country.
President of the Civil Rights Advancement Advocacy Network (CRRAN), Olu Omotayo, emphasised the need for lawyers to use available legal provisions to promote whistleblowing and protect whistleblowers, stressing that the policy had so far yielded positive results.
He stated that lawyers should leverage the policy to support the government in the fight against corruption and other abnormalities in the system. Earlier Coordinator, AFRICMIL, Dr Chido Onumah, stated that the workshop had collaborated with lawyers, especially those interested in public interest litigation to promote whistleblowing and whistleblowers.
