One Leak Too Many

The recent spate of leaks of sensitive government documents and correspondences has become a major embarrassment for the Bola Tinubu administration. In the past few months alone, there have been no less than seven high-profile leaks that have cast the government in poor light and raised concerns about secrecy, accountability and internal controls within the corridors of power.

The latest leak involves a memo regarding President Tinubu’s upcoming state visit to Qatar. The leaked diplomatic correspondence indicated that the Qataris had turned down a proposal for a business forum to be held during the presidential visit. While the government was quick to deny this and dismiss it as mischief, the leak itself is the real issue here.
Why are confidential memos between government agencies being leaked so easily? Who stands to gain from these leaks and what damage are they causing to Nigeria’s diplomatic relations? Many are wont to point at the inelegant tendencies of some disgruntled civil servants. That, in our opinion, is begging the issue.

This Qatar memo leak comes just months after the leak of another memo where the president approved a whopping $422,000 for his hotel accommodation during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York last September. That leak provoked outrage among Nigerians who questioned such lavish spending on accommodation alone when millions are struggling.
There was also the leak about Nigeria sending a contingent of 1,400 people to the climate change conference in Dubai. While the number was correct, the leaked delegate list led to more embarrassment for the government. In early January, there was the leak of a memo showing the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu, requesting the Accountant General to transfer N585 million into a civil servant’s personal account.

Then came the leak of the Chief of Staff conveying the approval to spend N3 billion of COVID palliative funds for voter verification. And in early February, the leak of a memo showing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, requesting N1.8 billion for the inauguration of a minimum wage committee. There is also a leaked memo in the media space on the President’s delegation to Qatar.
In the considered opinion of this newspaper, all these leaks point to one thing – those sensitive correspondences and documents are being easily accessed for onward leakage to the public domain. This could be proof that some detractors of the administration have infiltrated the bureaucracy with the intention to cause mischief. If that is the case, then, they are certainly succeeding.
However, we think it is a damning indictment of the administration’s ability to maintain control and confidentiality of official communications. Such leaks provide ammunition to opponents and erode public trust in the government. The officials responsible for information security need to immediately plug these loopholes.

There are also troubling questions around the motives behind these leaks. Are they being orchestrated by insiders and whistleblowers attempting to expose government excesses? Have opposition elements infiltrated the system? Or is it simply a case of carelessness and lax controls over correspondences? Whichever is the case, the Presidency needs to urgently stem this embarrassing tide of leaks.
As a newspaper, we are in favour of good governance just as we discountenance this trend of confidentiality breaches. While freedom of information and transparent government are important principles, there are clear lines between what should and should not be in the public domain when it comes to internal policy deliberations and official state correspondences.
In our view, indiscriminate leaks violate confidentiality and trust within government, and also needlessly undermine Nigeria’s diplomatic relations when other countries are involved.
We urge the Presidency to, as a matter of utmost urgency, order an immediate investigation into these leaks and plug any loopholes in communication protocols and information management systems.

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Furthermore, we call for the introduction of stringent measures for correspondence marking, storage, accessing, and sharing within the various arms and layers of government. Refresher training for personnel around confidentiality and information security would also help. Whistleblowing has an important role to play in a democracy which is why there is an official policy on that with provisions for compensation. But internal memos being freely leaked indicates a deeper systemic malaise that the Tinubu administration must address urgently before more diplomatic and reputational damage is done. These leaks go beyond the anticipations of the whistleblowing rule. The danger is that it may erode confidentiality in official communication protocols as policy makers may begin to find it not in their interest to talk to or rely on the integrity of officials in the system.

The way out, in our opinion, is for the government to begin a process of putting its house in order, insist on the policy of right to know in certain matters. Otherwise, this cascade of leaks will only continue in the coming months with all the harmful implications.