Chairman of EFCC encourages Nigerians to embrace ‘Whistleblowing’ policy

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Abdulrasheed Bawa, has appealed to the public to embrace the Whistleblowing Policy of the Federal Government in exposing economic and financial crimes.

He assured that the Policy is still very much in force, and whistleblowers have the opportunity for legitimate earning by exposing economic and financial crimes that lead to financial recovery.

Bawa, made this appeal on Wednesday, when he met with a group of social media influencers under the aegis of Mofeto Miracle Shurch in his office.

The EFCC boss encouraged whistleblowers to make use of the EFCC Reporting App, ‘Eagle Eye’, which could be downloaded from Google Play Store or App Store, to report economic and financial crimes cases.

“The App has an option of reporting either under anonymity or revealing your identity.  In most cases, those who reveal their names while reporting through the app are those who would say they want something from their services. Yes, it is their right. The policy is still in place to report economic and financial crimes and be entitled to a percentage of the recovery”, he said.

He explained that the engagement with the social media influencers is in line with one of the strategic objectives of the Commission’s 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, which is to increase public engagement in the fight against economic and financial crimes.

While noting that the Commission cannot fight financial and economic crimes alone, Bawa appealed to Nigerians to take ownership of the anti-graft campaign, especially the fight against cybercrime

“We need the support of everybody. There has been public outrage against sting operations to curb the menace of cybercrime, this is uncharitable. Activities of Yahoo-yahoo boys across the country is now like a pandemic. The Commission needs the understanding of the general public in this regards”.

Led by Richard Akinola, Author and Human Right Activist, the group said they have followed very closely the performance of the Bawa-led EFCC and have come to the realization that concerted efforts are needed in the corruption fight. They promised to partner with the Commission in the fight against economic and financial crimes.