Assignment -Write short note on Whistle blowing policy as an instrument to managing public finance in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION 

Whistleblowing has gained increased international support, particularly in respect of good governance, public accountability and the fight against corruption. It is the disclosure by a person to the public or those in authority of corruption, illegality, mismanagement of funds or other wrong doings.

Whistle blowing usually refers to the process by which individuals raise concerns at work. It originates from when a pit whistle was blown at times of accident in a mine; or it is analogous with a referee ‘blowing the whistle’ because of a foul in a football match, or a police man apprehending a criminal. In the Netherlands, the term used is ‘bell-ringing’; in Russia, it is ‘lighthouse keeping’. It implies letting everyone know there is a problem.

It has been recently defined by the Asian Institute of Management 2006, as, “the reporting of a wrong doing that needs to be corrected or terminated in order to protect public interest”. Legally speaking, there may not be a universally acceptable definition of the term because of the uncertainties surrounding it.

Guy Dehn a renowned public accountability expert (Testimony of Guy Dehn, 2003), defined whistle-blowing as: “a colloquial term usually applied to the raising of concerns by one member of an organization about the conduct or competence of another member of the same organization or about the activities of the organization itself”. In recent years, the connotation of whistle blowing has come to mean taking concerns outside the organisation, usually by informing the media about a dangerous or illegal activity that they are aware of through their work.

The terms ‘whistle-blowing’ or ‘speaking up’ are often used interchangeably, and can refer to the disclosure of a wide range of illegal or unethical conduct to the media or authorities about the happenings in a corporate or government entity (Achua, 2015). 

The recent administration’s efforts to stop corruption in the country has given rise to the otherwise unassuming concept of whistle blowing and it has become a topic of interest amongst the raging populace. In 2016, The Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) issued a programme called the Whistleblowing Programme (WBP) (Adegite, 2016).

This programme (which has no force of law) has led to the recovery of a lot of public funds hidden in ludicrous places including markets and private properties. The need to examine the concept of whistle blowing, its implications and the need for an enabling law to guarantee the protection of whistleblowers is now imperative. This note will examine the whistle blowing policy as an instrument to managing public finance in Nigeria

WHO IS A WHISTLE BLOWER

A whistleblower is a person who voluntarily discloses to the Federal Government or Organization, a possible misconduct or violation that has occurred, is ongoing, or is about to occur with specific concerns which are in the public interest.  Obviously speaking, “Whistle-blower” comes from the common practice of law enforcement officers and referees blowing a whistle to indicate an illegal action. Today, a whistleblower is any individual who reports a corporate or government entity’s illegal or unethical conduct to the media or authorities (Bello,2014).

In common parlance, someone is said to blow the whistle when they tell their employer, a regulator, customers, the police or the media about a dangerous, unwholesome, inimical or illegal activity or practices that they are aware of and going on in their work place (Druke, 2013).

TYPES OF WHISTLEBLOWERS

There are basically two types of whistleblowers that have been identified:

• The Internal whistleblowers – Report the misconduct or illegal behavior of a fellow employee or superior within an organization. Most whistleblowers are internal.

• The External whistleblowers – Not directly involved in an organization, but report their actions to entities such as the media, law enforcement, and watchdog agencies. Whichever group we tend to classify a whistle blower, whether as internal or external, the underlining factor usually common to both, is the need to preserve the ‘public interest’ (Jenfa, 2000).

SOME GRAY AREAS IDENTIFIED WITH WHISTLE BLOWING

Amid some disagreements in the early 80s on what exactly constitutes whistleblowing, Druke, (2013) quoted in Asian Institute of Management, identified some conceptual elements to clarify some of the cloudy areas of whistle-blowing. They identified the following:

a. An individual: To them, the person reporting or disclosing the wrongdoing can be an employee or ex-employee of that organization, not a journalist or even ordinary member of the society. Nevertheless, as reflected in some legislations, the current trend shift towards considering any person a whistle-blower by his/her actions - and he/she must not be registered or identified with any organization, (whistleblowers Australia).

b. Information which is of public record: as opposed to other dissenters in an organization, whistleblowers expect that the information they disclose in public interest should publicly and openly be utilized by the public. They expect the recipient to further disclose the information in

public interest. For example, in the case of Nigeria, the Nigerians expect the funds recovered through whistle blowing to be made and utilized publicly.

c. Information about actual or serious wrongdoing: the information must also be about a wrongdoing threatening the wellbeing of the public and not a trivial one. Regard being had to the number of those affected, the seriousness of the consequences and even the amount of money or loss involved.

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