Abstract
PurposeThis paper investigates the challenges and opportunities for the deployment of whistleblowing as an accountability mechanism to curb corruption and fraud in a developing country. Nigeria is the institutional setting for the study.Design/methodology/approachAdopting an institutional theory perspective and a survey protocol of urban residents in the country, the study presents evidence on the whistleblowing program introduced in 2016. Nigeria’s whistleblowing initiative targets all types of corruption, including corporate fraud.FindingsThis study finds that, even in the context of a developing country, whistleblowing is supported as an accountability mechanism, but the intervention lacks awareness, presents a high risk to whistleblowers and regulators, including the risk of physical elimination, and is fraught with institutional and operational challenges. In effect, awareness of whistleblowing laws, operational challenges and an institutional environment conducive to venality undermine the efficacy of whistleblowing in Nigeria.Originality/valueThe study presents a model of challenges and opportunities for whistleblowing in a developing democracy. The authors argue that the existence of a weak and complex institutional environment and the failure of program institutionalization explain those challenges and opportunities. The authors also argue that a culturally anchored and institutionalized whistleblowing program encourages positive civic behavior by incentivizing citizens to act as custodians of their resources, and it gives voice to the voiceless who have endured decades of severe hardship and loss of dignity due to corruption.
Highlights
Developing countries, in Africa, consistently receive deplorable global rankings pertaining to corruption and fraud
While our study recognizes the dominance of the P-A model, and the relevance of the cultural perspective to combatting corruption and fraud, we argue that given the Nigerian context and institutional environment, an institutional Whistleblowing theoretical approach would be more relevant and appropriate
While the limited time-window may present an incomplete picture of the challenges and opportunities in Nigeria, the obstacles posed by the political class coupled with various institutional obstacles impede accountability frameworks that could advance the fight against corruption
Summary
Developing countries, in Africa, consistently receive deplorable global rankings pertaining to corruption and fraud. On both the 2017 and 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) reports, only eight out of 49 Sub-Saharan African countries had corruption perception scores above the global average (Transparency International, 2018, 2019). Studies on the use of whistleblowing to combat corruption and fraud have focused on. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ legalcode
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