Ikoyi Osborne Towers whistle blower to be paid this month – Adeosun

-Whistle blower that gave useful tips leading to the discovery of the Osborne Tower funds to be paid this week.

-The EFCC and the whistle-blower’s lawyer had been exchanging words over the expected payment of commission.

Ikoyi Osborne Towers whistle-blower to get paid this month.

The whistle blower that gave valid information that led to the recovery of  $43.5 million, £27,800 and N23.2 million at No. 16 Osborne Road, Flat 7B Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos, will be paid his commission this week.

This latest development was disclosed by the minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, who stated that such whistle-blowers are usually paid after all necessary procedures have been duly followed.

Recall the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had claimed that the whistle-blower had been paid, but the whistle-blower had through his lawyer denied receiving any dime as a result of giving information that led to the recovery of the funds.

The minister cleared the air on the controversy been generated by the issue through a statement issued by Oluyinka Akintunde, Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance.

“The Honourable Minister wishes to state unequivocally that the Federal Government has not withheld any fund due to any whistle-blower. The Ministry has in place detailed procedures for processing payments due under the whistle-blower Policy. The procedures were designed to prevent abuse and legal disputes and to ensure protection of the information providers.

“These procedures include an application by the agency who recovered the funds, including evidence of the recovery, confirmation that there are no pending legal issues on the recovery, verification of the identity of the information provider, calculation of the amount payable and computation of relevant taxes.

READ ALSO: EFCC recovers $2.9bn in 30 months – Magu

“It must be stated also that payments are made in monthly batches to ensure control and to protect the identity of information providers. To date, over 20 of such persons have been paid. From available records, the payment due on Ikoyi is among those being processed in the November batch, which will be released within the current month,” the statement said.

The whistle-blower Policy was introduced in December 2016 by the Federal Government as part of the initiatives to wage war against corruption and individuals that give valid tips which leads to the discovery of such fund (s) is entitled to as much as five percent of the recovered amount.