{"id":2331,"date":"2017-05-14T15:24:38","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T15:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=2331"},"modified":"2017-05-14T15:24:38","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T15:24:38","slug":"dismissed-for-whistle-blowing-staff-approach-acting-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=2331","title":{"rendered":"Dismissed for whistle blowing, FMBN staff approach Acting President"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Open Letter to the Ag. President, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, SAN.<\/strong>
\nAnother Whistle-Blower has been Dismissed for Exposing Corruption in the Civil\u00a0Service\u00a0<\/strong>
\nThe Federal Government\u2019s Whistle-Blowers\u2019 Policy has again recorded another\u00a0major setback in an attempt of the current government to get the buy-in of\u00a0Nigerians to join hands in the fight against corruption in the country.
\nThe setback\u00a0was recorded as a result of the recent victimisation of one whistle-blower at the\u00a0Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria that led to his eventual dismissal from the\u00a0Bank. This, the whistle-blower claimed was a parting gift for exposing (alleged) corrupt\u00a0practices of (an) outgone management team of the Bank ….
\nThe whistle-blower insists that he and other members of the Bank\u2019s audit team\u00a0were targeted for dismissal by the former management following their refusal to\u00a0partake in what in their opinions were considered as illegality and unethical acts\u00a0of corruption that constitute serious financial crimes\/offenses against the country and the teaming masses of Nigerian workers whose NHF contributions were being stolen with impunity.
\nThe whistle-blower invited the wrath of the former management team upon\u00a0himself when he decided to report their illicit and unwholesome activities to; the\u00a0Honourable Minister, Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola;\u00a0Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); the Office of the Auditor General of the\u00a0Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in two\u00a0separate letters to the agencies.
\nAs at the time of filing this appeal, CBN, EFCC and the Office of the Auditor\u00a0General were at various stages of their investigations into the major allegations ofserious financial misconduct levelled against the relieved management team …. Meanwhile, the supervising ministry that was the primary\u00a0addressee of the two letters is yet to neither respond nor send any team of\u00a0investigators to the Bank in response to the whistle-blower\u2019s passionate appeal to\u00a0investigate the allegations and the wanton destruction of FMBN under the stewardship of ….
\nIn both the first and second letters which were\u00a0duly acknowledged at the office of the Honourable Minister of Power, Works\u00a0and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola; the whistle-blower made a fervent\u00a0appeal to the minister to wade into the matter between the auditors and the\u00a0acting executive management team but to no avail.
\n…the whistle-blower, is a fellow of Institute of Chartered\u00a0Accountants of Nigeria and a first-class graduate of Accountancy from Bayero\u00a0University Kano. From our recent interaction with him, the man is a national\u00a0asset that the country is blessed with. Apart from graduating top in his set with\u00a0the then only first-class degree from Bayero University in the year 2002, the … is currently under a self-sponsored part-time PhD program\u00a0in Credit Risk Management at the Northern University of Malaysia.
\nThis is in\u00a0addition to his MSc Finance from the University of Leicester (UK) in 2009. He is,\u00a0just like his other colleagues in the audit group an erudite and experienced\u00a0banker cum auditor with impeccable character that is required in audit jobs.
\nThe whistle-blower indicated that his decision to report the incident of\u00a0victimisation and intimidation to the Honourable Minister was supported by the\u00a0relevant sections of the FMBN Act 2004 which provides that in the absence of\u00a0duly constituted board, the Hon. Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr.\u00a0Babatunde Raji Fashola should acts as the Board of the Bank.
\nThree major issues were cited by the protesting auditor in the letter of complaint\u00a0as the main reasons behind the dissolution of the then Internal Audit Team\u00a0Headed by Mr. Anibaba Taslim, another senior Fellow Chartered Accountant\u00a0(FCA).
\nThe team was dissolved illegally and its members transferred away from their areas of core competencies in the Bank to pave way for nefarious activities\u00a0and transactions (which run into billions of Naira) that were earlier resisted by the audit team. In that letter, the copies of which we sighted, the auditor averred that the auditors were being intimidated, witch-hunted and persecuted by the\u00a0then executive management committee of the Bank for doing their jobs as\u00a0auditors of the Bank. He said that he was transferred to far away Taraba Stateand without any job description just like how the other members in the group\u00a0were also transferred to various remote locations to serve as a punishment for\u00a0their steadfastness and commitment to the anti-corruption stand of the\u00a0government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
\nThe first issue he said was a request for additional disbursement running into\u00a0hundreds of millions put forward by the relieved executive management\u00a0committee of the Bank to enable some contractors to remobilise to site. The\u00a0contract is for the renovation of Mamman Kontagora Building (MKH) in Lagos.
\nWhile the contract was awarded by the erstwhile dissolved board of the Bank(the Board was inaugurated in 2013), the then acting management committee …, developed serious interest perhaps due to the huge value\u00a0assigned in the contract and continued to mount intense pressure on the Bank\u2019s\u00a0internal auditors to release additional funding to the contractors. This, the\u00a0auditors argued could only pass through if the job certification of the previous\u00a0milestones achieved was presented to them as required in contract administration\u00a0under Public Procurement Act (2007). The auditor insisted that since the sum of\u00a0N1.5billion out of the N2.7 billion was already disbursed, representing about\u00a055%, whereas the job completion was lurking in the range of 20%, it was not\u00a0feasible to release additional funding to the contractors without bringing the\u00a0work at par with the earlier disbursements.
\nThe auditors therefore advised the supervising department in the Bank to direct\u00a0the contractors to bring the level work to the satisfactory position required\u00a0before they (auditors) could consent to the release of additional funding.
\nThen the second issue began! It was becoming obvious for the auditors that (the management)\u00a0team had contempt for obeying internal procedures, policies and\u00a0laws of the federation regulating the operations of FMBN (which is classified as\u00a0MDA). It was also becoming clearer that the auditors were not ready to partake\u00a0in the fraudulent transactions of those entrusted with authority in the Bank. Thus, (the)\u00a0team decided to devise another means that will see Internal\u00a0Audit Group consenting to the transfer of its statutory functions to a newly\u00a0created department called Internal Control & Compliance Group. A committee\u00a0was set up and Internal Audit Group was forcefully drafted into it by the acting\u00a0management team. The mandate of the committee was to recommend to\u00a0management the roles and duties of Internal Audit Group that should be ceded\u00a0to that new department in an apparent move that will see the circumvention of\u00a0the existing rules and policies of the Bank. The auditors raised their concerns that\u00a0the work of Internal Audit in public service is governed by Chapter 17 of the\u00a0Financial Regulations 2009 and as such without the approval from the Federal\u00a0Ministry of Finance which is the custodian of the law, there is no way they could\u00a0simply authorise that such functions be moved to that newly created\u00a0Group\/Department. The auditors therefore documented their views in a memo\u00a0to the committee chairman with a copy to the Ag. MD\/CE ….detailing their reasons why the necessary approvals must be sought from the\u00a0Office of the Accountant Gen of the Federation, Central Bank of Nigeria and our\u00a0Supervising Ministry. This, the auditors believed was necessary before they could\u00a0concur with the management decision of transferring the said functions to the\u00a0newly established group\/dept.
\nInstead of (the chief executive) to listen to the professional advice of the auditors, he took offence and began to threaten them through intimidation and verbal\u00a0assault. On a few occasions, the auditors averred that he boasted that he was\u00a0well connected in the Ministry and can ensure that the auditors were sacked if they failed to accede to his fraudulent requests. The auditor said they felt this was\u00a0unnecessary since they have already documented their views officially on the\u00a0matter in a memo to both the committee chairman and the Ag. MD\/CE and all\u00a0that was required is for the Ag MD\/CE to override our professional advice and\u00a0take the responsibility of that decision.
\nThe last but not the least was the issue of the fictitious Half-Year profit of the sum\u00a0of N423 million declared by the Bank. The whistle-blower narrated how the\u00a0auditors were directed to pass a favourable comment on the false profit\u00a0purportedly declared by Finance & Accounts Group which in the opinion of the\u00a0auditors was nothing but a ruse. The auditors resisted that move because they\u00a0believed that it was against the ethics of audit profession to declare unrealistic\u00a0profit the intention of which was nothing but to curry undeserved favours and to\u00a0mislead the public. It was also part of the bigger plot aimed at ensuring that (the MD\/CE)\u00a0was retained as the substantive Managing Director of the Bank said the\u00a0whistle-blower. He continued to narrate that it was successful in a way as the\u00a0Honorouble Minister Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola was quoted in one of the\u00a0sponsored programs of the Bank singing praises on the Ag MD\/CE for achieving\u00a0the half-year profit feat which he was misled into believing it was true. The\u00a0implication of this is (that he) has intentionally deceived a minister of\u00a0the Federal Republic in his quest to fraudulently be confirmed as a substantive MD\/CE.
\nMeanwhile, the recent CBN Examiners exit briefing that was at the Bank to investigate the allegations against the relived management team have clearly\u00a0established that there was no such profit rather it was a whooping loss position in\u00a0the sum of N7Billion as at the year end. By this time, the phantom profit in the\u00a0books of the bank had increased to the sum of N2.7Billion naira.
\nAll these three instances mentioned by the Whistle-Blower were supported by\u00a0documentary evidence to substantiate the allegations.
\nPersecution and Intimidation\u00a0<\/strong>
\nIn November 2016, Mr. Anibaba Teslim was illegally replaced as the Head of\u00a0Internal Audit. Subsequently, all other unit heads and other staff numbering\u00a0about nine were transferred out of the Group as a punishment for their perceived\u00a0roles in the past.
\nSubsequently, Internal Audit head and the whistle-blower were singled out for\u00a0intimidation, victimisation and persecution.
\nSeveral queries were issued to them both under flimsy and spurious grounds to\u00a0pave way for their dismissal from the services of the Bank. All the allegations\u00a0were spurious and the queries were responded to by the duo satisfactorily, but\u00a0that still did not make (the) management team drop their quest for\u00a0taking revenge against the auditors.
\nWhen the victimisation was becoming unbearable, (one of them) decided to take\u00a0the bull by the horn by writing a letter of complaint on his victimisation and\u00a0persecution to the Hon Minister, Power, Works and Housing on the 19th January\u00a02017. This was after a query was issued to him while he was officially on leave\u00a0and the query was delivered to his wife in which a demand was made that he\u00a0should respond before his resumption from leave. He said even\u00a0though the letter was acknowledged at the minister\u2019s office, there is yet to be any\u00a0response from the Honourable Minister on the matter.
\nWhen he got tired of waiting for response from the minster in respect of the first\u00a0letter, the whistle-blower wrote yet another letter date 13th February 2017 indicating clearly that his job and that of some other team members were on the\u00a0line but still there was no response from the minister!
\nTo the consternation of the whistle-blower, the other agencies that were only\u00a0copied in the letters to the minister (i.e. CBN, EFCC and the Office Auditor\u00a0General of the Federation) have since mobilised their investigation teams to the\u00a0Bank fully to investigate all the allegations and the counter allegations but not the\u00a0ministry.
\nFinally, when there was no help coming from the side of the ministry to stop the\u00a0victimisation of the whistle-blower, the former management team set-up a\u00a0kangaroo Management Disciplinary Committee and populated its membership\u00a0with its kitchen cabinet …. The\u00a0whistle-blower averred that almost all the members of Disciplinary Committee\u00a0had been indicted at one time or the other by various audit reports of the dissolved Internal Audit Group. Another indication that the committee was set-up\u00a0to do a hatchet job was the selection of only six members instead of inaugurating alldepartmental heads numbering about 23 as prescribed by Section 30 of the\u00a0Bank\u2019s Staff Condition of Service to serve as committee members.
\nIn their defence before the kangaroo Disciplinary Committee which were copied\u00a0to the Management team … the victimised\u00a0auditors objected to the biased composition of the committee (clearly a breach of\u00a0section 30 of the Staff Handbook) as well as the inclusion of some members who\u00a0have been active participants in the matters brought before the committee. The\u00a0defence was documented and copies circulated to all the committee members\u00a0present.
\nIn spite of these objections, the committee continued to deliberate and passed a\u00a0skewed judgement of guilty on both (men)\u00a0and recommended summary dismissal of (Internal Audit head)..
\nDissolution of the Management Team and the Appointment of New Ones\u00a0<\/strong>
\nOn April 14th 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari relieved the interim\u00a0management team…and appointed a substantive one under\u00a0the leadership of Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa.
\nThis angered (management team head) according to the whistle-blower who boasted that he will\u00a0use all his connections in the Ministry to ensure that both (men)\u00a0are dismissed. He passionately holds the duo responsible for the\u00a0termination of his appointment as the chief executive officer of the Bank and for\u00a0exposing his (alleged) corrupt practices.
\nImmediately, and about the same time the new management team was\u00a0inaugurated by the presidency, an approval to dismiss the duo was hurriedly\u00a0sought from the ministry that was hitherto incommunicado on the two different\u00a0letters addressed to it by the whistle-blower. One of such dismissal letters was later served to the whistle-blower….
\nThe whistle-blower recounts how the new executive management led by Arc.\u00a0Ahmed Dangiwa were helpless as the process to sack the auditors was something\u00a0that predated their arrival in FMBN and even worrisome is the fact that is a\u00a0directive that was received from the Ministry for immediate implementation.
\nIn view of the foregoing, we write to demand for an immediate investigation\u00a0into the allegations of the dismissed officer of the FMBN and to ensure that\u00a0justice is served accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Open Letter to the Ag. President, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, SAN. Another Whistle-Blower has been Dismissed for Exposing Corruption in the Civil\u00a0Service\u00a0 The Federal Government\u2019s Whistle-Blowers\u2019 Policy has again recorded another\u00a0major setback in an attempt of the current government to get the buy-in of\u00a0Nigerians to join hands in the fight against corruption in the country. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}