EARLIER this year, the Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, enunciated a whistle blower policy aimed at empowering citizens to report substandard and poorly executed projects across the state. Announcing the policy, the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, said the initiative is to give vent the governor’s vow that under his watch, it will no longer be business as usual as his administration will ensure value for money appropriated for public projects.
Under the initiative, a hotline for receiving WhatsApp messages, Short Message Service (SMS), pictures and videos on the true status being executed in various parts of the state has been set up. The whistle blower phone number given as 09169978305 directly links to the governor’s office is not subject toany officialdom in addressing the issue raised by the people. According to Mr. Aniagwu, the special line removes all encumbrances in letting the Governor get a true insight into status of projects and will enable Deltans report directly to Governor Oborevwori through the whistle-blower. Unlike in previous times, the line will enable people, who live in their communities and see the progress of projects firsthand alert the government to any form of substandard work.
Reports indicate that less than 24 hours after the hotline was made public, credible information on the quality of some projects that may be running afoul of required standards and specifications have been received by the governor.
This initiative is in tandem with global best practices and makes people to own the projects located in their localities. The whistleblowing programme is designed to encourage anyone with information about violation of extant regulations, mismanagement of public funds and assets, financial malpractice, fraud and theft to report such.
In other climes, a whistleblower typically works inside of the organization where the wrongdoing is taking place. But the Delta State initiative is mainly directed at enabling residents of communities to report infractions and perceived under the table deals in project execution, in the absence of insider whistle blowers, presence of various layers of supervised and inspectors of projects, including career officers and political appointees to report infractions. Given that it took only the direct intervention of the governor for contractors to be conscientious, we believe that the initiative should be codified.
In effect, officers and personnel who fail to report obvious substandard execution of projects or use of inferior materials should be held accountable. Similarly, contractors found to have engaged in substandard or use of materials outside the stated specification should also be held to account. We urge the Delta State House of Assembly to pass a bill on the whistle blower initiative. The bill should pave way for insiders to cooperate with the government by providing protection for those that decide to join government’s crusade. Legal protection for insiders whistle blowers will strengthen the initiative and build trust in the readiness of contractors to tread the path of honour and do the right thing.
It is reassuring that the governor is fully committed to transforming the making shoddy execution of projects a thing of the past given Mr. Aniagwu’s declaration that the governor is taking the exercise very seriously, as sanctions may be imposed on both contractors and government officials who fail in their responsibilities. We commend Rt. Hon. Oborevwori for the bold initiative and give it a fitting institutional change agent.
