Former Minister Expresses Regret Over Failure to Institutionalise Whistleblower Policy

A former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has said that she regrets not institutionalising the whistleblower policy during her tenure.

A former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has expressed regret over her failure to formally entrench the whistleblower policy as a lasting institution during her time in office.

The whistleblower policy was introduced in December 2016 by the Federal Government.

This was part of the initiatives to wage war against corruption.

Adeosun, who was the Minister of Finance from 2015 to 2018, said the whistleblower policy died because she failed to give it legal backing.

The former minister said this as a Keynote Speaker at the second edition of the Citadel School of Government (CSG) Dialogue series on Saturday in Lagos.

The CSG was founded by Pastor Tunde Bakare.

Delivering a speech on: “The Rough Road to Reforms: The Risks, the Resistance, The Reprisals and the Resilient Leader,” Adeosun said the whistleblowing policy of the Federal Government remained one of the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s successful initiatives.

She noted that any policy of the government without legal backing is easy to jettison.

She said: “Government policies with legal backing become difficult to change by subsequent administrations that do not like them.

“Leaders, who are reformers, often face institutional resistance and must find ways to overcome such obstacles.”

Adeosun said that a reformer in leadership must be compassionate as well as carry people along.

Speaking on corruption, the former Minister said it is not peculiar to Nigeria, adding that there is corruption in all parts of the world.

“Nigeria only needs building of strong institutions to correct human behaviour to stamp out corruption,” she said.

Also speaking, Bakare, who is the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), lauded Adeosun for continuing to do great things to benefit Nigeria “in spite of the fire she faced”.

Bakare described the former minister as a “daughter of God, who made us proud”.

He said: “If Adeosun had not won her case, the stigma would have trailed her.

“It is highly commendable that she came out as minister and no houses or stolen funds were traced to her.”

Bakare said the topic remained germane to prepare those in government and those aspiring to lead to be resilient and think through the reforms they would be bringing in.

“Reforms may not usher in an immediate change, but there is always a need to remain focused and not chase shadows,” he said.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of the CSG, Omoaholo Omoakhalen, said the dialogue series was developed to bring in people who have served in government to share their experiences.

“Adeosun was chosen to speak on reforms to aid current and emerging leaders, as Nigeria still needs so many more reforms across the board,” Omoakhalen added.