Financial Experts Advocate for Whistleblower Protection Law to Combat Corruption in Public Procurement
Call for e-procurement adoption and systemic reforms to enhance transparency
Financial experts have issued a strong call for legislative action to protect whistleblowers as part of Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts in public procurement. The recommendation came during discussions at the 2025 National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance in Abuja, organized by the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly.
Technology-driven solutions for procurement transparency
Procurement and Project Management Expert Engineer Olatunbosun Oyelowo emphasized the critical need for all government tiers to implement electronic procurement systems. “The adoption of e-procurement platforms would significantly enhance transparency in government contracting processes,” Oyelowo stated during his presentation.
The expert outlined a comprehensive reform agenda including:
- Strengthening audit and oversight institutions
- Increasing citizen participation in project monitoring
- Implementing ethical training for procurement officers
- Enhancing inter-agency data sharing
- Establishing strict sanctions for violations
Combatting ghost projects through technology
Oyelowo proposed innovative technological solutions to detect fraudulent projects, including:
Geotagging and GS monitoring: These tools would enable real-time tracking of project locations and progress verification.
Satellite imagery: Could provide independent verification of infrastructure project status and existence.
Digital project management tools: Would facilitate transparent reporting and documentation throughout project lifecycles.
Data analytics for fraud detection
The procurement expert stressed the importance of data-driven approaches to combat corruption:
“Financial and project data analytics can reveal anomalies in procurement processes,” Oyelowo explained. “Cross-verifying contractor records with physical inspections and deliverables ensures compliance with specifications.”
He highlighted the systemic nature of procurement fraud: “Ghost projects and inflated costs undermine public trust and drain valuable resources. We see projects reported as funded but never executed, or entirely fictitious infrastructures that remain untraceable.”
Subnational transparency crisis
Professor Abdelrasaq Na-Allah from the University of Abuja raised serious concerns about financial opacity at state levels during his presentation titled “Audit Institutions at Subnational Level.”
“While national attention focuses on federal government activities, nearly half (46%) of public spending occurs at subnational levels,” Na-Allah revealed. “These governments handle 65% of essential social services like healthcare and education.”
Nigeria’s poor transparency ranking
The professor cited damning international assessments:
“Nigeria ranks 140th out of 180 countries in transparency, scoring just 26 out of 100 on corruption indices. Our institutions are neither effective nor efficient in combating graft.”
He identified key weaknesses in subnational audit systems:
- Lack of institutional independence
- Executive control over audit budgets
- Political influence on staff deployments
- Restricted access to financial information
Systemic reforms needed
Both experts agreed that reactive measures against corruption prove insufficient. “Chasing offenders after the fact isn’t the solution,” Oyelowo argued. “We need preventive systems that make corruption difficult to execute in the first place.”
Professor Na-Allah called for greater scrutiny of state-level finances: “The disproportionate focus on federal government activities allows massive irregularities to go unchecked at subnational levels where most public services are delivered.”
The conference concluded with recommendations for comprehensive legal and institutional reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s public financial management systems and restore citizen trust in governance processes.
Credit: Original article by Nigerian Tribune – Read full story