Why EFCC is now reluctant to respond to tips from whistleblowers -- Magu

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has decried most of the tip-offs being passed to anti-graft detectives as leading to nowhere.

He said such outcomes often put the EFCC in an awkward situation, and officials have become reluctant to responding to leads from the public and focus on being circumspect when cracking tip-offs that emanate from the public.

“The experience is not very good. In most cases, the information comes, you go there and you don’t see anything, and it becomes a source of embarrassment,” Mr. Magu told Daily Trust in an interview published Saturday. “So, we are very cautious before we implement the follow-up.”

But anti-corruption chief said his agency is working to improve the whistleblower policy of the Buhari administration.

The complaint comes weeks after Mr. Magu said his agency has so far recovered up to N17 billion in suspected stolen funds through notifications from whistleblowes.

President Muhammadu Buhari announced the policy in December 2016. His government encourages citizens to inform law enforcement authorities about suspicious activities of looters.

A five per cent reward was recommended by the policy. In June, The government announced payouts of N375.8 million to 20 whistleblowers.

The Senate passed a bill aimed at protecting whistleblowers last month, following reports that some of those who raised alarm about alleged fraud were being victimised by their superiors.