AfCFTA: NLC’s opposition scuttles Buhari’s plan to sign agreement

THE opposition of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to Nigeria’s signing of the agreement for the establishment of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) may have forced President Muhammadu Buhari into a rethink about appending his signature to it.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had last Wednesday, despite the opposition from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), approved that the president should sign it during this Wednesday’s Extraordinary Meeting of African Union Heads of State and Government in Kigali, Rwanda.

The FEC meeting was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Labour had however argued that signing the agreement would be detrimental to Nigeria.

Even though an advance presidential team had already been dispatched to the East African country for the summit, Buhari suddenly cancelled the trip while the second set of his advance team who was already in Lagos en route Kigali was recalled to Abuja on Saturday.

The president was scheduled to have left Abuja for Kigali on Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now confirmed that the president has decided against signing the agreement to give room for more consultations with stakeholders.

In confirming the cancellation of the president’s trip, Tope Adeleye Elias-Fatile, spokesperson of the ministry, said in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, that “this is to allow more time for input from Nigerian stakeholders.”

While briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of that FEC meeting, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, had justified Buhari’s signing of the agreement, saying that there were benefits to be derived from endorsing the agreement.

He also disclosed that Nigeria was bidding to host the headquarters/secretariat of the AfCFTA.

The Presidency had also issued a statement on the benefits of the agreement, saying that Nigeria stands to benefit from expanded market access for its exporters of goods and services; it will spur growth and boost job creation, eliminate barriers against Nigeria’s products and provide a Dispute Settlement Mechanism for stopping the hostile and discriminatory treatment directed against Nigerian natural and corporate business persons in other African countries.

It will establish rules-based trade governance in intra-African trade to invoke trade remedies, such as safeguards, anti-dumping, and countervailing duties against unfair trade practices, including dumping, trans-shipment of concealed origin of products and support the industrial policy of Nigeria through the negotiated and agreed “Exclusion and Sensitive category lists” to provide space for Nigeria’s infant industries, among others.

But the NLC had argued against Nigeria’s signing of the agreement because of its belief that it would be detrimental to the country.

President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, had declared the Congress’ opposition, saying, “We at the Nigeria Labour Congress are shocked by the sheer impunity or blatant lack of consultation in the process that has led to this.

“We are more worried by the probable outcome of this policy initiative if it is given life because of its crippling effect on the local businesses and attendant effects on jobs.

“We have no doubt this policy initiative will spell the death knell of the Nigerian economy. Accordingly, we urge Mr President not to sign this agreement either in Kigali or anywhere. We believe our national interest is at stake and nothing should be done to compromise this.”

Asked about the alleged lack of enough consultations, Enelamah had said that his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Geoffrey Onyeama, had been mandated to widen consultations with stakeholders, including National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).

He said: “The conclusion we reached was that it is very important in going the agreement, that we are clear we are doing what is good for Nigeria. We want it to generate more exports.

“African market is 1.2 billion, we are 180 million. We have an ambitious economic agenda, and we are going into this wanting to clearly improve market access for our products and our people.

“We are also going into it wanting to protect our markets from unfair trade practices – dumping, smuggling and all the other things that can go wrong.

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“FEC directed that we should make sure that those things are built into the detailed paperwork that will follow. And more importantly, in the implementation, whatever ways and means are needed that they should be addressed. So, we have a lot of work to do achieve those objectives.

“The president also gave a set of objectives for negotiations in February 2017 and those points were also in those negotiations and those points have been met in terms of the framework. Now, we have to deal with the details and ensure that the implementation will be good enough.”

Enelamah also recalled: “The president in his directive in February 2017, constituted a negotiating committee that included organized private sector and business-like MAN and NASIMA. They have been working with us.

“However, the level of consultation needs to be much wider and the FEC also pointed that out.”