THE African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) has urged the Nigerian government to emulate Senegal, a neighbouring West African country that has just passed a whistleblower protection law.
The AFRICMIL Coordinator, Chido Onumah, in a statement described the move by Senegal as a milestone for transparency and accountability in West Africa.
Onumah noted that Nigeria’s whistleblower policy, launched in 2016 under the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), initially led to significant recoveries of stolen funds and assets.
However, public interest has declined over time because of the lack of legal safeguards for whistleblowers, he said.
“Despite nine years of advocacy by civil society and other stakeholders, Nigeria is yet to move from policy to law. The enactment and enforcement of whistleblower protection laws are not just legal instruments but foundations of good governance, accountability, and public trust,” he added.
The ICIR reported in 2022 that AFRICMIL and other stakeholders highlighted the importance of whistleblower protection legislation as a mean to advance the fight against corruption and other wrongdoings in the country.
The groups restated their commitment to the passage of the bill into law by working with relevant agencies of government.
A year later, in 2023, AFRICMIL and other stakeholders restated the call. They sought an urgent and effective whistleblower law to protect citizens who volunteer information on wrongdoings,...
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