Nationwide Stakeholders Call for Whistleblower Protection to Curb Public Procurement Corruption

Financial experts at Nigeria's 2025 National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance emphasized the urgent need for whistleblower protection laws to combat corruption in public procurement, alongside advocating for the adoption of e-procurement systems and technological tools such as geotagging, satellite imagery, and data analytics to track and detect ghost projects. The rise of whistleblowers globally has transformed compliance, pushing organizations to develop robust cross-border strategies to manage varying legal frameworks and increasing regulatory scrutiny, as whistleblower reports now trigger faster investigations and harsher penalties. This empowered whistleblower movement has made it essential for companies to proactively enhance compliance programs to avoid reputational and financial damage. While whistleblowers increasingly influence accountability, global surveillance technologies used in law enforcement and national security, including facial recognition and AI profiling, raise ethical concerns regarding privacy and the potential misuse of monitoring tools against individuals not charged with crimes. The call for stronger whistleblower protections, combined with technological advancements in transparency and oversight, highlights a growing international effort to balance effective governance and ethical standards in the digital age.