Organised Labour, under the auspices of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), last Thursday led their civil society allies on a protest march to the Presidential Villa, where they met the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. The President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Waba and the TUC President, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, who led the protest rally in a petition presented to the acting president, presented the details of their demand and why they are protesting.
The letter titled “concept Note,” reminded the President that few months after the swearing in of President Muhammadu Buhari, the NLC and TUC led organised Labour and its allies in civil society to organise a National Day of Action Against Corruption and for Good Governance on September 10, 2015.
The action, according to the Organised Labour was intended to give support to the anti-corruption commitment of Mr President and to mobilise public support for the fight against corruption. “We were convinced that given the endemic nature of the crisis of corruption in the country, no stone should be spared in our mobilisation and support for the campaign. This is an area where there has been a convergence between the President’s policy and ours as a leadership of organised Labour.”
During the September 10, 2015 National Day of Action,the letter said the NLC and TUC presented seven key demands of the Government in a similar petition presented to Mr President, the leadership to the National Assembly, State governors and the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
These demands include:
- That the new government must ensure that all stolen funds must be retrieved to the last kobo, and kept in a special account to be appropriated for job creation, funding of Education, Health and other social welfare infrastructures.
- That the Government should establish a special anti-corruption court to speed up the trial of all corruption cases, and sustain the anti-corruption campaign.
- Campaign for the public declaration of assets (elected and appointed) upon assumption of office.
- Seeking comprehensive review of and strengthening of current anti-corruption legislations to block loopholes used to evade justice and convictions by corrupt public officers and their collaborators.
- The establishment of a whistle blowing protocol by giving 10 per cent of funds and undeclared assets to whistle blowers/informants if successfully prosecuted. This was to reward and encourage individuals to step up and expose corruption. We called for this to be extended to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, to fish out companies and other corporate bodies not paying their correct tax to the Federation Account.
- We called for the extension of the search light of anti-graft agencies to the two other tiers of government; the states and local governments, as well as the appointment of anti-graft judges for courts in each of the states of the federation as provided in the ICPC Act, to try corruption cases.
On the Federal Government’s Anti-Corruption Initiatives, the letter read: “Since President Buhari assumed office some 20 months ago, the government had through public statements locally and internationally affirmed its commitment to the fight against corruption as a key priority programme of the administration. It established the Professor Itse Sagay led Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), and a number of high ranking cases are being prosecuted by EFCC. This includes the Sambo Dasuki (Rtd), former National Security Adviser to President Jonathan for diversion of $2.1 billion meant for procurement of arms and ammunition to fight the Boko Haram insurgents.
“Through the work of the PACAC, a number of activities have been undertaken aimed at strengthening institutions and legislations in the forefront of the anti-corruption Campaign.
“The Assets recovery Strategy Document; and Framework for Management and Administration of Recovered Stolen Assets, the proposal and development of a draft bill and explanatory memorandum for the establishment of a special crimes court to handle corruption cases and other special crimes like terrorism, kidnapping and human trafficking, are some examples of the efforts to tackle corruption vigorously.
“Similarly, in December 2016, the government announced that the Federal Executive Council had approved a whistle blowing policy which will reward successful whistle blowers between 2.5-5 per cent of successfully retrieved stolen funds. The government also declared that a bill was before the National Assembly for the promulgation into law, the whistle blower policy of the administration.”
However, the Organised Labour stressed the need to do more to sustain the anti-corruption campaign. The letter read: “Despite the commendable work that is being done by the EFCC and the other ant-corruption agencies, as well as the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, there is urgent need to reinvigorate public support. There is also a need for the measures being put in place to translate into concrete measurable results in more recovery of stolen funds, convictions and conclusions of cases.
“As the PACAC stated in its first year Annual Report, corruption has been the main damaging obstacle to the development of Nigeria. What only 55 people have stolen in seven years in Nigeria amounted to N1.35 trillion. As Nigerian workers and people, we must continue to strive to deliver mortar blows to the monster that is corruption. “
“To underscore the enormous nature of the work that lies ahead, even the ruling party-the APC has not yet followed through on its key promises to the Nigerian people in the area of fighting corruption – that public officers would publicly declare their assets upon assumption of office, among other promises. The 8th National Assembly despite promise to open up its budget for Nigerians to see, has continued to keep the huge money they vote for themselves year in, year out, beyond public scrutiny.
“In the States and Local Governments, very little has changed, if anything at all since May 29th, 2015. Corruption is fighting back and it will further prevent our quest for development and advance as a nation if we don’t stop it. Workers and Pensioners in many states of the federation are not paid salaries as at when due, despite bail out and Paris Club deduction refunds to state governors. A governor in the North Central axis owing public servants 7 months arrears of salary recently said he was not elected to pay salaries.
“At various levels contract inflation continued to be the norm rather than the exception. Abandoned Federal Government’s projects scattered around Abuja and states of the federation stand at about N4.7 trillion.
“Powerful elites in both the public and private sector are holding N5.4 trillion. in AMCON debt as a result of government taking over of toxic debt they owed banks through loans they took and refused to pay back. An example of the kind of impunity that goes on can be seen in the case of an individual who diverted N94 billion aviation bailout funds to Ghana, where he used it to establish a commercial bank.”
The letter added: “All the above avoidable drain on our national resources have compounded the problems and are linked to the inability to deliver good governance in our country. The huge leakages of our commonwealth via corruption is seen in the inability of the state to provide critical infrastructure, pay a minimum wage that is at the same time a living wage; the chronic problems in our power sector, which despite the hurried privatization by the Jonathan government at the eve of the last general election, has not shown any sign of delivering on the promise that with the ownership and management of the sector in private hands – in the private sector, we would begin to witness improved electricity supply.
“Equally, we are not making any headway in the job creation and employment opportunities area, even as the ruling APC had promised to create three (3) million new job annually in its manifesto. The crisis of Good governance is also see in the way our economy has been managed with the resultant full fledge recession, and the introduction of multiple exchange rate regime which has very negative effect on manufacturing and other sectors of the economy.
“This is why the leadership of NLC, TUC and our allies in the civil society have decided to follow-up the September 10th, 2015 National Day of Action Against Corruption and For Good Governance with a 2nd Day of Action on February 7th, 2017.
“The Day would be marked in Abuja, the Federal Capital and all the 36 states of the federation with marches, rallies and submission of petition containing a list of demands to Government at the presidency, the National Assembly, Government Houses in the state capitals, the states Houses of Assembly, among others.
“We hope to mobilise hundreds of thousands of Nigerians on the street in Abuja, Lagos and all the states capitals in the country on that day.”