By Suleiman Idris, Abuja
The whistleblower who exposed the massive funds recovered from an Ikoyi apartment has rejected the N325 million offered by the government as reward for his effort.
The whistleblower, it will be recalled tipped off the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of the $43million, N23.2million and £27,800 totalling N13billion which were kept in the Ikoyi apartment.
Yakubu Galadima, his lawyer who disclosed the position of the whistleblower at a press conference said his client will not accept anything below five per cent commission.
Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, Secretary of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, had at an event on Thursday titled, ‘Tracking Noxious Funds’, organised by Kent University Law School and Human and Environmental Development Agency, explained that any whistle-blower, who helped the government to recover anything above N1billion would receive less than five per cent commission.
Owasanoye, who was part of the team that drafted the whistle-blower policy had said, “If you blow the whistle and the government recovers cash, you are entitled to between 2.5 per cent and five per cent. The maximum limit is five per cent.
“According to the policy, if you blow the whistle and it is below N500m, you get four to five per cent because the higher the amount that is recovered, the lower the percentage that is given. This is the global best practice.
“If the recovery is between N500m and N1bn, you get three to four per cent (commission), if it is N1billion and above, it is 2.5 per cent. Indeed, there is a clause that we included in the policy to say that the government may determine the amount to be awarded based on other criteria provided that the amount to be awarded doesn’t exceed five per cent. In other words, the government may actually pay less than 2.5 per cent but nobody can be paid more than five per cent.”
Commenting on this government position, Galadima said his client would not accept anything less than five per cent.
When asked if his client would accept anything less than five per cent, he said, “Not at all.”
Galadima had stated last week that the commission his client was expecting from the Federal Government was N860m and not N325million.
He said that the commission should be paid based on the exchange rate at the time the money was recovered and not the current one.
