Nigerian Senate has reintroduced a bill seeking to protect whistleblowers after many failed attempts.
Now passed its first reading on Tuesday, t
The bill, sponsored by Opeyemi Bamidele, the senate majority leader.
Recall that the eighth senate under the leadership of Dr. Bukola Saraki had passed the whistleblower and another legislation for witness protection.
However, the whistleblower, which sought to protect whistleblowers against victimisation and loss of jobs got stuck during the second reading in the house of representatives and did not make it through to a third reading by the time the ninth assembly ended.
The whistleblower and witness bills were later under Senator Ahmad Lawan-led house consolidated and reintroduced as one single legislation.
But the sponsor of the bill, Benjamin Uwajumogu, senator representing Imo north at the time, died a month after he reintroduced it in 2019.
After his demise, there was no further legislative action on the bill.
Meanwhile, In December 2022, the federal executive council (FEC) approved a new whistleblowing bill to be sent to the national assembly for consideration and subsequent passage.
That bill was not passed as the country went into the 2023 election period and subsequently reached the end of the Lawan-led national assembly.