WorldStage– The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has pledged its solidarity with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the fight against corruption, with the body declaring that Nigerian workers stand firmly behind the Commission’s mandate.
The pledge was made when a delegation of the NLC, led by its General Secretary, Akhator Joel Odigie, who doubles as General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation-Africa (ITUC-Africa), paid a courtesy visit to the EFCC’s Executive Chairman in Abuja.
Odigie told the EFCC that the visit formed part of a wider continental campaign by ITUC-Africa against illicit financial flows, a campaign he said was already under way in Zambia and Kenya and due to extend to Uganda, Ghana and Senegal.
He said the campaign was rooted in the African Union-commissioned Mbeki Panel report, which he said found that a cumulative $60 billion left the African continent annually as at 2005 through tax avoidance, evasion and dodging by large businesses and wealthy individuals — a figure he said has since grown into trillions of dollars when historical exploitation is taken into account.
Odigie said “Our coming today, first, is a way of solidarity. To say we are with you in this fight. Let us fight together. That more than ever before, the fight you are undertaking is on behalf of the Nigerian people, on behalf of the workers.
“We make the argument globally, and successfully, that the continent is not a net debtor. Rather, we are a net creditor continent. In other words, people are taking from this continent.”
Odigie called for stronger and safer whistleblowing mechanisms, saying the NLC had been deliberating on how workers who witness corruption can report it “safely” and be guaranteed protection by the institutions they approach.
He linked the anti-corruption fight to labour’s demand for a living wage, describing wages as the top priority in any country’s social protection framework, and noted that African governments which endorsed a 2012 International Labour Organisation recommendation on social protection later cited a lack of funds for its implementation — funds he argued are being lost to graft and illicit outflows.
NLC recalled a history of collaboration between the labour union and the EFCC, stressing that the relationship had since weakened and needed to be revived.
The delegate canvassed expanded powers for the EFCC, including possible amendment of its enabling Act, to strengthen its ability to investigate and prosecute offenders “irrespective of their offices.”
Responding, EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Commander of the EFCC, CE Wilson Uwujaren, who spoke for the Executive Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, said the Commission had moved beyond “lamentation” over illicit financial flows to active enforcement, including investigations, arrests and recoveries, but acknowledged that it could not fight corruption alone.
“The Commission welcomes collaboration from every organisation, civil society, faith-based organisations, all of them. And the NLC, as far as I am concerned, is the lead organisation when it comes to civil society activities,” he said.
He further noted that public enthusiasm for the Commission’s whistleblowing policy, introduced around 2016, had declined in recent years for lack of sustained civil society engagement, and urged the NLC to help sensitise workers on how corruption directly undermines their livelihoods.
He maintained that the EFCC remained Nigeria’s strongest law enforcement institution and welcomed the offer to revive its partnership with organised labour.
Both the EFCC and NLC agreed to sustain engagement going forward, with the NLC delegation pledging broader mobilisation of workers in support of the Commission’s mandate.
The Director said the Commission realized that to succeed in fighting corruption, “you must be made to work with like minds. You must embrace groups and associations that share the same values with you. And we have been doing that over the years,” stressing on the need to revive the partnership between both parties. “We are for that because, like I said, we cannot do it alone.
“The Commission welcomes collaboration from every organization, civil society, faith-based organizations, all of them. And the NLC, as far as I am concerned, is the lead organization when it comes to civil society activities. And we want to see that culture revived and able to run.
“I have listened carefully to all the good talks that we have had this morning. And I want to assure you that I will convey all the views that we have expressed to the Chairman when he comes back,” he stated.
He challenged the NLC to help in rekindling the fire of whistleblowing in Nigeria. “Like you said, workers are usually the greatest victims of corruption anywhere in the world. And it is even more so in Nigeria. And it is important for labour to embark on a campaign that will make the ordinary worker realize the implication of corruption for a livelihood. Because people don’t seem to realize that,” he said.
