Whistleblowers Get Paid For Recovered Funds, Not For Exposing Illegitimate Funds – AGF, Abubakar Malami New Whistleblowers Get Paid For Recovered Funds Not For Exposing Suspected Illegitimate Funds– AGF, Abubakar Malami 1

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has brought to limelight clarification on the  misconception of Nigerian whistle blowers who call out individuals who have been found wanting in the issue of money laundering and theft. According to him, whistleblowers are not paid based on the amount revealed but based on the amount recovered from looted funds.

Contrary to reports,  whistleblowers are not duly reciprocated for their good deeds even after risking a lot to expose these criminal activities. This claim was strengthened  by a  letter written by one Aliyu Lemu, Esq. on June 22 on issues revolving around the payment of a whistleblower’s fees.

In the letter Lemu’s client, John Okupurhe, had exposed $1billion (over N387billion) hidden in a bank by a Federal Government agency to the office of the Attorney General and was led on by this body that he will be paid a commission of the money if it is credible. But this wasn’t the case in the end.

“Upon establishing that our client’s information qualified under the whistle-blower policy, the Office of the AGF signed a whistle-blower 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.”

However, to clear all doubts and misconceptions in the heart of the masses, the media aide to the AGF, Dr. Umar Guandu has released a statement in that regard detailing how payments are made to whistle blowers and who gets paid among them.

“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,”
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