TheNewsGuru

Tag: Whistleblower

  • Pressure mounts on Tinubu’s Govt to prioritise enactment of Whistleblower Protection Law

    Pressure mounts on Tinubu’s Govt to prioritise enactment of Whistleblower Protection Law

    There have been fresh calls for President Bola Tinubu-led administration to reintroduce and push for the speedy passage of the ‘botched’ Whistleblower Bill into law.

    The African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG) and other civil society organizations had been advocating on different fora for the Tinubu-led Executive and the Legislature to prioritize the passage of whistleblower protection law after a failed attempt during the 9th National Assembly.

    The latest call was made by a Program Officer, CLEEN Foundation, Nnamdi Odo, during an anti-corruption radio programme, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Odo urged the Federal Government to get the Whistleblower Bill passed as soon as possible, given its importance in the fight against corruption, noting that a speedy passage of a law to protect persons who expose corrupt acts in the country is possible with the right attitude in place.

    Advising the Tinubu’s administration, Odo said, “Let’s get this legislation passed and implement it. I think if the administration can achieve that in the shortest possible time, it will be a plus.

    “It is not late for the government to say enough is enough to corrupt activities that have impacted negatively in Nigeria and across all sectors. It is not late if the government decides to wake up and say enough is enough. Let’s give the right attention whistleblowing deserves”.

    Odo identified the lack of political will by previous administrations as a major hindrance to getting legislation that can adequately protect whistleblowers in Nigeria while urging anti-graft agencies of the government not to relent in taking action against numerous petitions and investigations brought to their notice by Nigerians every now and then.

    “Lack of political will is a major hindrance, but it’s not supposed to be because when you have the National Assembly that has a majority of members from one political party, and you have the Executives on the same side of the political will, is there, Whistleblower Bill stands a high chance of being passed.

    “if today we go to the EFCC or ICPC, you will see tons of petitions written by Nigerians; even though there is no whistleblower protection law, these anti-corruption agencies still receive petitions from courageous Nigerians, but the citizens can only stop at petitioning, and the onus of the investigation lies with these agencies and how fast they carry out these investigations is a story for another day,” He lamented.

    On her part, the Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, AFRICMIL, Nkechi Ugwu, asked President Tinubu to take advantage of whistleblowing in tackling public sector corruption and consolidate his promises to Nigerians.

    Worried by the malfeasance of public funds by political leaders, Ugwu urged the Federal Government to leverage the advocacy for whistleblowing law to block leakages in government, especially as Nigeria is struggling with the economy.

    Ugwu said: “My advice is that President Tinubu should take advantage of this bill to consolidate his ‘renewed hope agenda’ because a lot has been happening regarding the economy. Nigerians are facing a lot more hardship since the removal of the subsidy. Nigeria is also known for borrowing, so President Tinubu needs to leverage the passing of the Whistleblower Bill.”

    She encouraged citizens to have a positive mindset on whistleblowing and also lauded the efforts of civil society groups in advocating for whistleblower protection laws over the years.

    “If Nigeria goes bad, it affects everybody. So when we come out to blow the whistle, we should come out with all honesty and commitment, seeing it as a responsibility rather than looking out for the money. The reward is just a motivation,” Ugwu stated.

    Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.

    The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.

  • Alleged N3bn loan diversion: Bayelsa Govt refiles suit against whistleblower

    Alleged N3bn loan diversion: Bayelsa Govt refiles suit against whistleblower

    The Bayelsa Government on Tuesday refiled a suit against John Idumange, who raised an alarm over alleged diversion of N3 billion Agriculture loan by government officials.

    Justice Iniekenimi Uzakah of the State High Court in Yenogoa had struck out the suit which he inherited from Justice Ebiyerin Omukoro of the State High Court.

    When the case came up before Justice Iniekade Eradiri, the Prosecution Counsel, Mr John Prosper apologised for absence of the defendant.

    Prosper told the court that he learnt that following the striking out of the case by Uzakah,  Idumange travelled out of the country for a short course.

    ”He not aware that the case had been re-filed and I heard he will be returning to the country by end of June. I appeal to the court to give reasonable time.

    “The adjournment will allow prosecution to put its house in order and produce the defendant for arraignment to take his plea,” Prosper said.

    The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Bayelsa, Biriyai Sambo, SAN, filed a suit against Idumange for misdemeanour and seditious publications against government officials.

    A Magistrates’ Court had on March 11, 2021 in Yenagoa, ordered Idumange’s detention for 30 days, pending police investigation.

    Idumange, who alleged that officials of Bayelsa government had diverted a N3 billion Agric loan and subsequently submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arrested on March 10, 2021.

    Some officials of the state government, reported to the police that Idumange, made seditious publications that maligned their persons in his claims.

    However, the State High Court, Sagbama Division, granted bail to Idumange, who was also an aide on Research and Documentation and later Social Media to former Bayelsa Governor, Seriake Dickson.

    The case, earlier assigned to Justice Ebiyerin Omukoro, was reassigned to Justice Uzakah following a written request by the state Attorney-General to the Chief Judge of Bayelsa, Justice Kate Abiri.

    NAN

  • Musk reveals new reason to exit Twitter deal

    Musk reveals new reason to exit Twitter deal

    Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has revealed a new reason why he exit Twitter deal, as both parties in a legal suit on Tuesday threw more accusations at each other.

     

    This development was seen in the latest round of legal filings over Musk’s efforts to rescind his offer to buy the social media platform.

     

    Musk filed more paperwork in his bid to terminate the deal, this time based on information in a whistleblower complaint filed by Twitter’s former head of security.

     

    Twitter fired back by saying Musk’s attempt to back out is “invalid and wrongful.”

     

    In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk said his legal team notified Twitter of “additional bases” for ending the deal on top of the ones given in the original termination notice issued in July.

     

    Twitter has sued Musk, asking the Delaware Chancery Court to force him to go through with the $44 billion deal. A high-stakes trial is set to start the week of Oct. 17.

     

    In a letter to Twitter Inc., which was included in the filing, Musk’s advisors cited the whistleblower report by former executive Peiter Zatko — also known by his hacker handle “Mudge.”

     

    Zatko, who served as Twitter’s head of security until he was fired early this year, alleged in his complaint to U.S. officials that the company misled regulators about its poor cybersecurity defenses and its negligence in attempting to root out fake accounts that spread disinformation.

     

    The Musk letter, addressed to Twitter’s Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, said Zatko’s allegations provide extra reasons to end the deal if the July termination notice “is determined to be invalid for any reason.”

    Musk reveals new reason he exit Twitter deal
    Elon Musk

     

    Billionaire Musk has spent months alleging that the company he agreed to acquire undercounted its fake and spam accounts, which means he doesn’t have to go through with the deal.

     

    In a separate SEC filing, Twitter responded to what it called Musk’s latest “purported termination,” saying it’s “based solely on statements made by a third party that, as Twitter has previously stated, are riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lack important context.”

     

    Zatko received a subpoena Saturday from Musk’s team compelling him to testify in what Zatko’s lawyers emphasized would be an “involuntary” deposition ahead of the coming courtroom battle between Twitter and Musk.

     

    “He did not make his whistleblower disclosures to the appropriate governmental bodies to benefit Musk or to harm Twitter, but rather to protect the American public and Twitter shareholders,” Zatko’s lawyers wrote in a prepared statement.

     

    Twitter is likely to amend its lawsuit to include Zatko’s allegations, so the court can decide on both the bot and cybersecurity issues. That could delay the trial because Musk will say he needs more time to prepare, said Brian Quinn, a law professor at Boston College.

    Musk reveals new reason he exit Twitter deal

     

    The court will have to decide whether the bot or cybersecurity issues are a “material adverse effect” that will harm Twitter’s business for years — a difficult legal bar to clear, Quinn said.

     

    The bot issue, which Twitter disclosed in filings with the SEC, seems to be an issue that Twitter would win on, Quinn said. Cybersecurity problems raised by Zatko may not be such an easy victory, he said.

     

    “This is more grist for the mill,” Quinn said. “It’s not as obvious for the most part that this is a winner for Twitter. But once you start to analyze these closely, it’s still an uphill battle for Musk.”

  • Whistleblower, critic drag Benue LG chairman, Facebook to court

    Whistleblower, critic drag Benue LG chairman, Facebook to court

    Mr. Unazi Gideon, a social critic, and Eza Patrick, an anti-corruption crusader have dragged Mr. James Oche, Chairman, Ado Local Government Area of Benue and Facebook International Services Nigeria Limited for alleged defamation of character.

    Gideon and Patrick, in a suit marked: FCT/HC/CV/2812/2022 and filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, demanded N500 million in damages.

    Oche and Facebook were sued as 1st and 2nd defendants respectively.

    In the application dated and filed Aug. 25 by their lawyer, F.S. Jimba, the claimants are praying the court for “a declaration that the publication originated by the 1st defendant and published by the 2nd defendant on the 23rd August 2022 titled ‘PATRICK EZA and GIDEON UNAZI WANTED OVER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION IN ADO’ is defamatory of the claimants.”

    They, therefore, prayed the court for an order of injunction perpetually restraining the defendants whether by themselves or through their agents or privies howsoever described, from further publishing any defamatory information concerning them

    In the statement of claims,  the claimants told the court that “on Aug. 23, the 1st defendant used the platform of the 2nd defendant known as Facebook and published a highly defamatory material about them.”

    Oche was alleged to have, through the Facebook, said: “The Benue State Command of the Nigerian Police Force today paraded 18 suspected kidnappers arrested in Ado Local Government.

    “In connection with this, the attention of the public is drawn to the fact that PATRICK EZA and GIDEON UNAZI are hereby declared wanted by Ado Local Government to volunteer useful information to aid police investigation in this matter.

    “Anybody in contact with them should advise them to immediately turn themselves Into the Ado Divisional Police Station Igumalo.

    “Similarly, those with useful information on their whereabouts should kindly inform the DPO Ado LG.”

    But the claimants, in the affidavit in support of the writ of summon, said that they were both in Abuja on Aug. 23 going about their legitimate business when they became aware of the defamatory publication.

    They also averred that as at the time the publication was made, neither of them was invited by the police in connection with the allegation of kidnapping.

    They said that the act had portrayed them as kidnappers or persons involved in kidnapping or persons who are members of a kidnapping gang.

    The claimants, who described themselves as law-abiding citizens who earn their Income from their legitimate work, said they had never involved in any case of kidnapping or any other crime before.

    The matter was yet to be assigned to a judge as at the time of the report.

    NAN

  • Court fixes date to hear whistleblower’s N100m suit against ICPC

    Court fixes date to hear whistleblower’s N100m suit against ICPC

    The Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed Feb. 24, 2021, for hearing in a N100 million suit filed by a whistleblower, George Davidson, against the ICPC.

    Justice Nkeonye Maha , who adjourned the matter in her ruling, hinged the decision on the fact that parties in the suit had yet to be joined.

    Also joined in the N100 million suit is a civil servant, Regina Davidson.

    Davidson, through his lawyer, A. O. Osawaru, filed a motion on notice dated Oct. 19 for the enforcement of his fundamental rights against his alleged illegal detention by officers of the ICPC.

    He was said to have been detained in the commission cell on Oct. 13 without justification until Oct. 24 when he was moved to a police cell at the Federal Secretariat.

    He alleged that he was kept in the cell until Oct. 31 when he was released over an information supplied to the anti-corruption agency, through a non-governmental organisation, about Dominic, a grade level 9 federal civil servant.

    While the ICPC is the 1st respondent; Akeem Lawal, an ICPC Director of Operations; Offili Innocent, ICPC Investigator; Maman Kuru, ICPC Investigator; Kontagora Khadijat, ICPC operative; Mrs Regina Dominic and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) are 2nd to 7th respondents respectively.

    Osawaru, in the application, argued that no court had found the applicant guilty of any offence to warrant such detention.

    He sought the court’s declaration that the detention of his client by the ICPC and its agents (2nd to 5th respondents), at the behest of Mrs Dominic (6th respondent), was unlawful and unwarranted.

    “An order directing the 7th respondent (AGF) to take over and assign the applicant’s petition against the 6th respondent to another anti-corruption agency for a discreet investigation.

    “The sum of hundred million naira against the 1st to 6th respondents as damages/compensation for the illegal, unwarranted, unlawful and unconstitutional arrest and detention of the applicant.

    The lawyer also urged the court to direct the 1st to 5th respondents to refrain from further actions that could amount to the breach of Davidson’s fundamental rights, among others.

    Counsel to the applicant informed the court that the motion on notice was for the enforcement of fundamental rights of his client.

    When Justice Maha asked whether an issue had been joined, Osawaru responded that “after the close of work on Friday, we got informed that the 1st defendant filed a counter affidavit and preliminary objection which we have not seen till this moment.”

    “But if no issues have been joined, you have to take a date,” the judge said.

    “Hope he (Davidson) is not on detention,” Maha asked.

    “Upon hearing that the matter is before your honourable court, they released him,” Osawaru responded.

    Justice Maha then adjourned the matter until Feb. 24 for consolidated hearing of the substantive motion.

  • $1bn secret govt account: Malami reacts to whistleblower’s claims on unpaid funds

    $1bn secret govt account: Malami reacts to whistleblower’s claims on unpaid funds

    The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice only pays whistleblowers after successful recovery not for mere tracing or exposure of suspected illegitimate funds.

    This is contained in a statement issued by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice which was made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday 28th of June, 2020.

    The Minister was reacting to a story published by the The Punch newspaper on a pretext of a letter allegedly by one Aliyu Lemu, Esq. purportedly written on June 22nd, 2020 on issues revolving around payment of a whistleblower’s fees.

    According to The Punch, a whistleblower, John Okpurhe, has accused Malami of of refusing to pay him reward after exposing over $1billion government money hidden in Unity Bank Plc.

    The was the reason why Okupurhe, reported Mr. Malami to President Muhammadu Buhari, via a letter by lawyer, Aliyu Lemu, dated June 22, 2020, the report said.

    However, Gwandu said in a reaction to the story that “The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice wants to make it categorically clear that one does not get payment on account of exposing looted assets, but on successful recovery and lodgment of same into the designated assets recovery account at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    The statement listed the procedure for engagement of a whistleblower or recovery agent as it relates to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation is as follows:

    “1. A Proposal is submitted to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation

    “2. A Letter of engagement is issued to a whistle-blower of recovery agent where the disclosure is assed to have some prospects of

    success,

    “3. The recovery agent or whistle-blower is expected to notify in writing the acceptance of the engagement,

    “4. The recovery agent or whistleblower is expected, upon acceptance, to not only trace the assets but recover same and have it deposited in a designated asset recovery account maintained by the Federal Government of Nigeria in the Central Bank which is usually provided to the recovery agent in writing.,

    “5.Where these funds are eventually claimed to have been lodged by a whistle-blower or recovery agent, the Central Bank issue acknowledgement of receipt of the fund to the Office of Attorney-General on demand,

    Gwandu said , “It is the satisfaction of the above elements that entitles the whistle-blower or a recovery agent to a claim of success fee and the payment is usually effected by the Federal Ministry of Finance and not the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation. The role of the Office of the Attorney-General in essence is simply that of processing the above listed documents to the Ministry of Finance which is the

    Ministry saddled with the responsibility of effecting payment,

    Malami explained further through his media aide that “recovery is not about exposing the existence of certain assets in an account purported to have belonged to an agency of the government. it is about establishing that the funds in the account are looted assets or illegitimately warehoused and following that up with actual recovery and lodgment of the funds in the designated Asset recovery account through judicial and extra judicial means.

    “Entitlement to recovery fees is for all intent and purposes contingent on lodgment of the purported/exposed assets constituting the subject of recovery into the Federal Government Recovery designated Account maintained at the instance of the President at the Central Bank of Nigeria and the details of the account are contained in the engagement letter.

    He said, a clause in the letter reads: “The agreed remuneration shall become due and payable to the whistle-blower within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the recovered/looted funds by the Federal Government of Nigeria and payment shall be made the designated/nominated account provided in writing by the whistle-blower”.

    Malami further said, as a way of encouragement, that if the whistleblower in the circumstances of this case feels strongly that there is any claim of wrong doing associated with the alleged claim relating to recovery process, the whistle-blower should consider lodging a complaint with the relevant institutions of his choice for the matter to be properly investigated and or consider a judicial redress in the alternative.

    “The claim by the whistle-blower, as published by the paper, that the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federal cajoled them into signing of an agreement forfeiting sixty percent of the whistle-blower fees amounts to criminal allegation which the whistle-blower is encouraged to lodge complaint before the appropriate law enforcement agencies for full-scale investigation,” Gwandu said.

    He concluded that, “The Attorney General shall, however, in line with established tradition of subjecting matters attacking his reputation submit the whistleblowers mischievous allegation to judicial determination as done previously with The Cable when its maliciously publish a story casting aspersion against the Attorney-General on matters relating to the Abacha loot”

  • Whistleblower drags Malami to President Buhari over $1bn deal

    A whistleblower, John Okupurhe, has written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, accusing the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation(AGF).

    Okpurhe, in a letter written by his lawyer, Aliyu Lemu, dated June 22, 2020, accused the AGF of refusing to pay him commission after exposing over $1bn (N420bn) hidden in Unity Bank Plc.

    Okupurhe said he expected his share after he exposed the account that was secretly being operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority to illegally collect revenue from vessels.

    He said he provided the details to the Office of the AGF of the secret account in line with the whistle-blower policy, and that an agreement was signed

    The agreement stated that Okpurhe would be entitled to a commission if the information provided turned out credible.

    The whistleblower said after playing his own part, the AGF’s office began to give excuses.

    The letter read in part, “Pursuant to the whistleblower policy of the Federal Government, our client approached the Office of the AGF with confidential information in respect of hidden public funds concealed in a commercial bank in Lagos contrary to the Treasury Single Account policy which requires all public revenue or funds to be domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    “Our client presented the Office of the AGF with qualifying information on a cloned account with the Nigerian Ports Authority which was being used to illegally collect revenue from vessels by the signatories who are no longer in the service of the NPA.

    “Upon establishing that our client’s information qualified under the whistleblower policy, the Office of the AGF signed a whistleblower agreement with our client through his appointed counsel- Mamman, Maiyaki & Co.

    “The information provided by our client eventually led to the exposure of the hidden/concealed funds in Unity Bank Plc to the tune of $1,034,515, 000.”

    He added that the Head of Asset Management and Recovery Unit, Mrs. Ladidi Mohammed, informed him that the matter was in court and that plans had changed.

    Okuprhe said when asked who filed the suit, she (Mohammed) could not come up with the answer. Also, she could not disclose in which court the matter was pending.

    He added, “On the next day, one Ms Bunmi, who deputises for Mrs Mohammed, called our client and asked him to come alone without a lawyer. Upon arrival, she informed our client that there was no pending matter in court on the account.”

    The whistleblower said he was told that because the money involved was huge, the Office of the AGF recommended a private firm with which he should enter into a contract to help him get the funds.

    The whistle-blower said upon the insistence of the AGF’s office, he was made to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the company to forfeit 60 percent of his reward.

    He said in a dramatic twist, his lawyer was attacked by armed policemen in his office who robbed him and made away with the original copy of the agreement signed with the AGF.

    Okpurhe, however, called on the President to quickly intervene as failure to pay him could compromise the whistleblower policy and affect public trust in the government.

  • Adesina vindicated by AfDB Bureau of Governors

    The Bureau of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank rules an Independent Investigation is not required and stands by the decision of the Ethics Committee in favor of Adesina.

    Instead an independent reviewer will take a look at process by which the Ethics Committee reached its determination on Adesina’s behalf.

    The Bank’s Whistleblowers in contravention of bank rules, regulations and laws provided not a single piece of evidence compared to 250 pages of official supporting documentation by Adesina.

    The Bureau of Board of Governors upheld the conclusions of the decision in Adesina’s favor.

    An Independent reviewer will now take a dispassionate look at the process by which the Ethics Committee of the Board and the Bureau Bureau the Board of Governors came to its rulings.

    The latter part of the communique now calls for a review of the Whistleblower policy to ensure that something like this never happens again.

    Following the allegations of unethical conducts, questionable appointments and contract awards by a group of whistleblowers and the subsequent clearance of all charges by the bank’s ethics committee, the United States Government, who is the largest shareholder outside Africa, asked for an independent probe of those allegations.

    The US treasury secretary questioned the integrity of the committee’s process as well as the internal processes of the bank.

    Adesina, a few days ago, met with President Muhammadu Buhari, where he was assured of the country’s support towards his travails and his second term bid for the Presidency of the multilateral institution.

  • Cambridge Analytica whistleblower calls for social media regulation

    Cambridge Analytica whistleblower calls for social media regulation

    The whistleblower, who claimed data consultancy Cambridge Analytica played a role in obtaining data from Facebook users, on Tuesday called for government regulation of social media and online advertising.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Christopher Wylie, a former director of research at the now-defunct data consultancy firm, made the call at the Web Summit, Europe’s biggest tech gathering, in Lisbon.

    In his address at the Web Summit, Wylie also called on data scientists to be subject to an ethical code just as doctors, nurses and teachers are.

    “Why is it we can regulate nuclear power, but we can’t regulate code? Why is it that as data scientists, we don’t have to think of the ethical and moral implications of what we are doing?

    “I think that is absurd. People now sleep with their phones more than they sleep with people. The need for regulation is more urgent given the rise in the number of people using social media,” Wylie said to applause from the audience.

    Wylie earlier this year said data from millions of Facebook users, without their knowledge, was used by Cambridge Analytica to influence elections across the world, including 2015 elections in Nigeria, and to help elect US President Donald Trump – a claim denied by the company.

    Some 70,000 people are expected to take part in the four-day Web Summit which got underway Monday, including speakers from leading global tech companies, politicians and start-ups hoping to attract investors.

    Dubbed “the Davos for geeks”, the annual event was launched in Dublin in 2010 and moved to Lisbon six years later.

     

  • British lawmakers publish evidence from Cambridge Analytica whistleblower

    A committee of British lawmakers on Thursday published written evidence provided by a whistleblower who said information about 50 million Facebook users ended up in the hands of political consultancy — Cambridge Analytica.

    Christopher Wylie, who worked for Cambridge Analytica, alleged that the data was used to build profiles on American voters and generate support for Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election.

    He also claimed that Canadian firm — AggregateIQ (AIQ) — was involved in the development of the software used to target voters.

    Wylie appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the British parliament on Tuesday.

    The committee said Wylie provided it with documents, including services agreement between AIQ and SCL Elections, Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, dated September 2014.

    AIQ did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment after Tuesday’s committee hearing, but in an earlier statement said it had never entered into a contract with Cambridge Analytica and had never been part of the firm.

    Cambridge Analytica said it did not share any Facebook profile data with AggregateIQ and did not use it in the campaign to elect Donald Trump.

    It added that it had no any data as it had deleted it.