By HeapNews
LAGOS — Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has called on the Federal Government to take “urgent and concrete” action to bolster protections for whistleblowers in Nigeria, emphasizing their vital role in exposing corruption, human rights abuses, and other wrongdoing.
Marking this year’s World Whistleblowers’ Day on June 23, MRA noted that current protections under Nigerian law are “weak, fragmented, and largely ineffective.”
Programme Officer at MRA, Ms. Ayomide Eweje, said: “We note that the current whistleblower protection framework in Nigeria remains weak, fragmented, and largely ineffective. The Federal Government continues to threaten whistleblowers with prosecution despite the whistleblower protection provisions in Section 27(2) of the Freedom of Information Act.”
She further criticized the 2016 Whistleblower Policy as being “merely aimed at assisting the government to recover looted public funds,” adding that it “was not designed to provide protection for persons who risk everything to expose corruption, misconduct, human rights violations, threat to public safety, or other wrongdoing.”
Ms. Eweje stressed that the lack of a comprehensive legal framework for whistleblower protection leaves those who speak up “vulnerable to threats, harassment, job losses, and physical harm.”
“Whistleblowers are the eyes and ears of our society; they step forward so that the rest of us can see and act. When whistleblowers speak up, everyone benefits,” she said. “Yet without reliable channels to report wrongdoing, we risk enabling critical information about wrongdoing to stay hidden.”
MRA called on the National Assembly to pass robust legislation that would guarantee confidentiality, protect whistleblowers against retaliation, and establish an independent whistleblower protection agency.
Ms. Eweje concluded: “On this World Whistleblowers’ Day, we stand in solidarity with whistleblowers in Nigeria and around the world who have paid a high price for speaking out… We reaffirm our commitment to advocating for their rights and working towards a society where exposing wrongdoing is not only protected but celebrated as a courageous act of public service.”
This year’s World Whistleblowers’ Day — themed “Protecting the Truth-Tellers” — aims to encourage a culture of integrity under the campaign slogan “We’re all ears,” drawing attention to the public interest that whistleblowers serve.