FG will pay whistleblower before end of November - Adeosun

The whistle-blower behind the discovery of $43.5 million, £27,800 and N23.2 million from an Ikoyi apartment at No. 16 Osborne Road, in Lagos had publicly condemned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for failing to pay him his 5% commission as stipulated in the recently-signed Whistleblower Policy.

Through his lawyer, Yakubu Galadima, the unnamed whistleblower said the agency had failed to pay him and instead had subjected him to unfair treatment.

In response to the public condemnation that has trailed the development, Mrs Adeosun has clarified the government's position, explaining that the whistleblower in question is part of the batch that would be paid in November.

She explained that failure to pay the whistleblower was a procedural one and that more than 20 people have already been paid under the provision of the policy.

Taking to her Twitter account on Sunday, November 12, 2017, she posted, "Let me make it clear that the Federal Government will not withhold any funds due to any whistleblower. The Whistleblower Policy has detailed procedures for processing payments. 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 that recovered the funds, confirmation that there are no pending legal issues on the recovery, verification of the identity of the information provider, calculation of amount payable, and computation of relevant taxes.

"Whistleblower payments are made in monthly batches. To date, over 20 of such persons have been paid.

"From available records, the payment due on the Ikoyi Apartment recovery is among those being processed in the November batch, which will be released within the current month.

"The Whistleblowing Policy remains one of the Buhari administration's successful initiatives. We're fully committed to ensuring that all those who respond to the policy and partner with us in the recovery effort are paid in full and, most importantly, have their identity protected.

"Let me reiterate that the Federal Government will not withhold any payments due to any whistleblower."

Ikoyi Loot

The loot was recovered by officials of the EFCC in Flat 7B, No. 16, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos during a raid on Wednesday, April 12, 2017.

A lot of controversy trailed the discovery of the loot, with public outcry, especially on social media, demanding that the culprits be brought to book.

The loot was initially claimed to belong to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) when its director Ayodele Oke said that the amount in the apartment was marked for covert operations. After President Muhammadu Buhari suspended Oke and set up a three-man panel headed by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to properly investigate the matter, he was sacked on October 30.

The issue became even more controversial when Senator George Sekibo, a lawmaker who represented Rivers East senatorial district at the time, appeared at plenary with a whistle, claiming that the loot belongs to the Rivers state government.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, further claimed ownership of the funds which he alleged were misappropriated from the state by his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi.

Former aviation minister, Fani Kayode,and spokesperson of Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, Lere Olayinka also insisted that the apartment where the loot was found belonged to Amaechi. The current Minister of Transportation strongly denied the claims.

The loot has also been linked to former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adamu Mu'azu; senator representing Lagos west, Solomon Adeola; and an ex-managing director of Petroleum Products Pricing and Marketing Company (PPMC), Esther Nnamdi-Obue.

On June 6, JusticeSule Hassan of a Federal High Court division in Lagos ordered the final forfeiture of the monies recovered to the Federal Government.

ALSO READ: Court orders interim forfeiture of Ikoyi property

Payment controversy

While speaking at the 7th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Austria, on Thursday, November 9, EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, said the whistleblower is already a millionaire by virtue of the percentage he was officially entitled to.

In response, his counsel, Galadima, fired back and said he had been treated poorly by the commission in his efforts to get his entitlement.

He also dismissed reports that his client would receive N350 million reward, saying that the actual figure was N850 million.