The Federal Government has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered over N540bn through its Whistle Blower Policy.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 71st General Assembly of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He said, “As of May this year, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, through the Whistle Blower Policy, recovered over N527bn, $53m, and £122,890.”
Mohammed, who was represented by the Director, Public Relations and Protocol, of the ministry, Mr. Sunny Baba, said the EFCC also successfully launched a major onslaught on senior military officers and their civilian accomplices involved in shady deals, leading to the recovery of choice assets across the country.
The minister in a statement, therefore, urged the media to align itself with the policies and programmes of the Muhammadu Buhari administration aimed at ridding the country of corruption.
He said, “This effort should not be seen as the sole effort of Mr. President or the government.
“The media has a duty to ensure that the programmes of the government, meant to uplift the lots of the citizenry, are projected as a national cause and not just as that of Mr.President or the administration.”
Mohammed, who said the BON General Assembly was taking place at an auspicious time in view of the forthcoming general elections, told broadcasting organisations not to yield their platforms to those he described as “purveyors of hate speech and fake news”.
He said broadcasting outfits should instead promote the unity, stability and the development of the country.
The minister said, “Anything short of this would amount to a criminal abdication of a sacred duty which could spell doom for our collective national life.”
