Post on 12-Apr-2017
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
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.
Criteria for Justifiable Whistle Blowing
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.
Criteria for Justifiable Whistle Blowing
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.
Criteria for Justifiable Whistle Blowing
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.
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.
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
Challenger: Timeline
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
Challenger: Timeline
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
Challenger: Timeline
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
Challenger: Timeline
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 (Dubeydiscovered 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.
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.
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 WhistleblowerProtection 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 OlanrewajuSolomon 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 HonorableJohn 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.”
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/