The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Sunday explained reasons the whistle-blower who informed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of the N13bn recovered from an Ikoyi apartment in Lagos about seven months ago was yet to be paid.
The federal government in December 2016 introduced whistleblower policy to reward any person, who gives information that leads to the recovery of stolen or concealed funds or assets. Such whistleblower was entitled to between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of the amount recovered as an incentive.
However, the payment of the person that blew the whistle on the N13bn found in Flat 7B Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, started generating controversy last week.
The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu had said the person(name undisclosed) was now a millionaire having receiving his due, a claim lawyer to the unnamed whistleblower, Yakubu Galadima, swiftly denied.
Shedding light on the matter Finance Minister Kemi Adesosu in a statement issued by her Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Mr. Oluyinka Akintunde, said, “The attention of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has been drawn to media reports surrounding the payment to a whistleblower, who provided the tips that led to the recovery of funds stashed away in a property in Ikoyi, Lagos State.
“The Honourable Minister wishes to state unequivocally that the Federal Government has not withheld any fund due to any whistleblower.
“The ministry has in place detailed procedures for processing payments due under the whistleblower policy.
“The procedures were designed to prevent abuse and legal disputes and to ensure protection of the information providers.
“These procedures include an application by the agency who recovered the funds including evidence of the recovery, confirmation that there are no pending legal issues on the recovery, verification of the identity of the information provider, calculation of the amount payable and computation of relevant taxes.
“It must be stated also that payments are made in monthly batches to ensure control and to protect the identity of information providers.
“To date, over 20 of such persons have been paid. From available records, the payment due on Ikoyi is among those being processed in the November batch, which will be released within the current month.”
