>
The whistle-blower who helped the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the discovery of the $43m, N23.2m and £27,800 (N13bn) at an apartment in Ikoyi, has reportedly rejected the sum of N325 million paid to him as commission by the Federal Government.
His lawyer, Yakubu Galadima, said his client will not accept anything less than the 5% commission as enshrined in the whistle-blowers policy.
He said last week that his client was expecting N860 million and not N325 million.
Last Thursday, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, Secretary of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, at an event tagged, ‘Tracking Noxious Funds’, which was organised by Kent University Law School and Human and Environmental Development Agency, said any whistle-blower, who helped the government recover funds over N1bn would receive less than five per cent commission.
Owasanoye was part of the team that drafted the whistle-blower policy.
His words: “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 N1bn 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.”
But the Ikoyi whistle-blower’s lawyer told The Punch on Saturday that his client would not accept anything less than five per cent, as was initially promised.
He also insisted that the commission should be paid based on the exchange rate at the time the money was recovered and not the current one.