The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has pledged its solidarity with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the fight against corruption, declaring that Nigerian workers stand firmly behind the commission’s mandate.
The NLC made the commitment on Thursday when a delegation led by its General Secretary, Akhator Joel Odigie, who is also the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation-Africa (ITUC-Africa), paid a courtesy visit to the EFCC in Abuja.
Odigie said the visit was part of a wider continental campaign by ITUC-Africa against illicit financial flows, which he said was already underway in Zambia and Kenya and would extend to Uganda, Ghana and Senegal.
He said the campaign was rooted in the African Union-commissioned Mbeki Panel report, which found that about $60 billion was leaving Africa annually as of 2005 through tax avoidance, tax evasion and other illicit financial practices involving large businesses and wealthy individuals.
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According to him, the figure has grown into trillions of dollars when historical exploitation is taken into account.
“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,” Odigie said.
He added, “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.”
The NLC general secretary called for stronger and safer whistleblowing mechanisms to enable workers who witness corruption to report such cases without fear of victimisation.
Odigie said the union had been deliberating on ways to ensure that workers who expose corruption could report safely and receive adequate protection from relevant institutions.
He also linked the anti-corruption campaign to the labour movement’s demand for a living wage, describing wages as a key component of any country’s social protection framework.
According to him, African governments that endorsed a 2012 International Labour Organisation recommendation on social protection later cited lack of funds as a reason for failing to fully implement it.
He argued that funds lost through corruption and illicit financial flows could have been used to improve workers’ welfare and strengthen social protection programmes.
The NLC also recalled its previous collaboration with the EFCC, saying the relationship had weakened over the years and should be revived.
The union called for expanded powers for the anti-graft agency, including possible amendments to its enabling Act to strengthen its ability to investigate and prosecute offenders irrespective of their positions.
Responding, the EFCC Director of Public Affairs, Commander CE Wilson Uwujaren, who spoke on behalf of the Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said the commission had moved beyond merely lamenting illicit financial flows to active enforcement through investigations, arrests and recoveries.
He, however, acknowledged that the EFCC could not win the fight against 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,” Uwujaren said.
He said the commission welcomed the NLC’s proposal to revive its partnership with organised labour, adding that he would convey the concerns and recommendations raised during the meeting to Olukoyede.
Uwujaren also urged the labour movement to help revive public interest in the EFCC’s whistleblowing policy, which was introduced around 2016.
He said enthusiasm for the policy had declined in recent years due to inadequate sustained engagement by civil society organisations.
“Like you said, workers are usually the greatest victims of corruption anywhere in the world. And it is even more so in Nigeria,” he said.
The EFCC spokesman urged the NLC to embark on a campaign to sensitise workers to the direct impact of corruption on their livelihoods.
“It is important for labour to embark on a campaign that will make the ordinary worker realise the implication of corruption for a livelihood. Because people don’t seem to realise that,” he added.
Both organisations agreed to sustain their engagement, while the NLC delegation pledged to mobilise workers more broadly in support of the EFCC’s anti-corruption mandate.
