Sambo Abdullahi, a staff of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc, has won this year’s edition of the Most Valuable Whistleblower Award, in the whistleblowing category, of the annual Gani Fawehinmi Impact and Integrity Award (GFIIA) organised by Human and Environment Development Agenda (HEDA).
Abdullahi, a finance and audit expert, joined NBET in 2012 as head of internal audit. He is now a deputy general manager in the company wholly owned by the federal government of Nigeria.
In a citation read at the ceremony which held in Lagos on Thursday, December 10, 2020, Abdullahi was described as “a man of integrity in the power sector.”
“As head of internal audit at NBET, Abdullahi exposed massive financial fraud and mismanagement not only where he works, but also across the power sector value chain,” the citation noted. Abdullahi was described as “deeply committed to diligence and due process.”
This is the third edition of the Gani Fawehinmi Impact and Integrity Award. Earlier winners in the whistleblowing category are Omoyele Sowore, journalist and publisher of Sahara Reporters in 2018, and Murtala Ibrahim of the Federal Mortgage Bank (FMBN) of Nigeria in 2019.
Both Ibrahim and Abdullahi were nominees of the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), a civil society organisation working to build support for the whistleblowing policy of the Nigerian government.
“AFRICMIL is delighted and congratulates Sambo Abdullahi for this award,” Dr. Chido Onumah, Coordinator of AFRICMIL, noted in his reaction. “This is the second time we would have our nominees win this prestigious award (in the whistleblowing category) in honour of an illustrious citizen of the country, late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN. It is not a surprise. Abdullahi deserves the award.”
Abdullahi said he was humbled by the award, adding that it would spur him to continue to serve the country faithfully and honestly to the best of his ability.
About the Award
HEDA Resource Centre, with the support of MacArthur Foundation, instituted the annual award called Gani Fawehinmi Impact and Integrity Award (GFIIA) in 2018. The Award, which is named in honor of late Human Rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, is designed to reward acts of Integrity, Accountability and Whistleblowing to deserving Nigerians of Courage, Selflessness and Honesty. To this end, HEDA presents its Annual Celebration and Honour for Integrity, Accountability and Whistleblowing to deserving Patriots.
The award aims to encourage, promote, celebrate, and protect the uncommon principles of openness, honesty, probity, accountability and transparency in public and private life and whistleblowing to deserving persons and bodies.
