N13bn Whistle-Blower Will Be Paid This Month – Finance Minister, Adeosun

Kemi Adeosun

The whistle-blower who gave the EFCC the tip-off which led to the recovery of N13bn from an Ikoyi apartment in Lagos would be paid this month, the minister of finance said on Sunday.

The Whistle-blower policy was introduced in December 2016 by the Ministry of Finance to help in the effort of President Muhammadu Buhari administration to curb the menace of corruption in Nigeria.

Kemi Adeosun denied insinuations that the federal government had withheld any fund due to any whistle-blower. The minister explained that the whistle-blower has yet to be paid due to administrative procedures that must be fulfilled before such funds are released.

Adeosun said this in a statement issued by her Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Oluyinka Akintunde.

The statement read in part, “The attention of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has been drawn to media reports surrounding the payment to a whistle-blower, 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 whistle-blower.

"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.”