In this interview with EDIDIONG IKPOTO, the Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, Rabiu Olowo, speaks on the state’s recently unveiled whistleblower initiative and how it will affect accountability
The Lagos Inland Revenue Service inaugurated a whistleblower initiative recently, tell us what this entails?
It is a whistleblower initiative like you said, but we like to call it the ‘speak up’ initiative. It is part of an ongoing effort to deepen transparency, accountability and promote integrity within the system. So we are giving an opportunity, an avenue whereby whether it is our staff or those who do business with us, our vendors or contractors, third party or citizen, when they see something, they say something. When they observe any wrongdoing within the system, they should have the opportunity to report those wrongdoings in a very safe and compliant way. That is exactly what we are doing.
Is the initiative limited to revenue and tax related matters, or is it a state-wide programme?
The whistleblower initiative is a state-wide programme by the Lagos State Government. It is an initiative that is sponsored in this administration, with the sponsorship of the governor himself, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, so that across our system, across our civil service, it will deepen that culture of ‘see something, say something.’ At the end of the day, it will promote transparency and accountability across our ministries, departments and agencies. So the answer is that it is a...
Unfortunately, Gregg Phillips’ claims that he was twice teleported from one place to another aren’t the biggest problems for this top government official with a long history of shady deals, charit...