The centre, through its coordinator,
Mr. Chido Onumah (AFRICMIL) expressed displeasure over reported dismissal from
service of an Assistant Director in the Directorate for Technical Cooperation
in Africa (DTCA), an agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ntia
Thompson, for blowing the whistle on the diversion of $229,000.00 and N800,000.00
by key officials in the Directorate.
Similarly, AFRICMIL called for an immediate end to the persecution of Mr. Aaron Kaase, a staff of the Police Service Commission (PSC) who blew the whistle that led to the recovery of N133 million at the Commission, alleging that Mr. Kaase has been on suspension without pay since May 2015, and was lately arraigned in court on some dubious charges manufactured by some top officials of PSC to cover up for the fraud.
He told ITRealms that Mr. Thompson on one hand was initially suspended on December 19, 2016, before the Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs, Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim, who supervises the DTCA, approved
his compulsory retirement on February 7, 2017, in a public notice addressed to
all staff and signed by Sanda S. Isah, Head of Administration Department in
DTCA.
“AFRICMIL views the action of the
Ministry not only as most unconscionable but also as another devastating blow
to the war against corruption under the current administration,” Onumah said.
He recalled that the Federal
Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Finance recently launched a
whistle-blower policy to encourage and mobilize active participation of
Nigerians in its anti-corruption campaign. While there are signs of potential
gains with the announcement of recovery of some looted funds through
whistle-blowing, it can also not be denied that government officials have from
the beginning constituted the greatest stumbling block to the effective
implementation of the policy.
He decried the sacking of Mr.
Thompson for his attempt to contribute to accountability in the public sector
by blowing the whistle on financial fraud in his workplace, stressing its the
latest in the determined effort of some top government officials to ensure that
the whistle-blower policy and, to a large extent the fight against corruption,
does not gain any meaningful traction. Clearly, the Minister of State and other
key officials of the Ministry were thoroughly embarrassed by the
whistleblower’s revelation and the only way to respond was through his illegal
dismissal from service.
AFRICMIL urged the Head of the Civil
Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, not to approve the dismissal
of Mr. Thompson, and called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and the Police “to whom the malfeasance was initially reported” to
properly investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.
In addition, AFRICMIL noted the persecution of Mr. Aaron Kaase, a staff of the Police
Service Commission (PSC) who blew the whistle that led to the recovery of N133 million
at the Commission was uncalled for.
"Not only has Mr. Kaase been on suspension without pay since
May 2015, he is currently being arraigned in court on some dubious charges
manufactured by some top officials of PSC," the group said.
AFRICMIL urged government to
unequivocally discourage the shameless response from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and PSC as well as punish forthwith any official(s) who perpetrate(s)
such similar brazen acts of impunity that undermine a progressive policy of
government.
“A whistleblower deserves full
protection and not victimization or persecution in any form. Otherwise, potential whistleblowers will feel disinclined to reporting fraud
and that will sound a death knell to the whistle-blower policy in its infancy,
and the anti-corruption war in the long run,” Onumah pointed out.
Chuks Egbune/GEE
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