Nigeria’s whistleblower policy, introduced on December 21, 2016, was designed as a quick fix to expose systemic corruption. It promised whistleblowers between 2.5 and 5 percent of recovered looted public funds. However, while the policy incentivizes disclosures, it does not guarantee protection.
Instead, whistleblowers often face surveillance, dismissal, or even death threats. Multiple attempts to pass a whistleblower protection bill over the years have stalled in Nigeria’s National Assembly, leaving whistleblowers legally vulnerable.
On September 18, 2025, Federal High Court judges and civil society advocates debated on Nigeria’s fragile whistleblowing framework at a national interactive forum convened by the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) for federal high court judges, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
Harry Ogwuche, the Director of Economic and Social Rights at Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), shared during the debate:
Protecting whistleblowers is not an abstract anti-corruption strategy; it is a direct, proactive investment in the enjoyment of fundamental human rights as enshrined in Chapter IV of our Constitution and various international covenants Nigeria is party to.
While seeking the support of judges in the advocacy for a whistleblower protection law in Nigeria, Chido Onumah, Coordinator of AFRICMIL, said:
Judges are key...
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