Nigeria labour unions demand capital punishment for corruption

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and civil society on Wednesday advocated capital punishment for corrupt officials as obtained in China and India.

Making the call at a joint news conference in Abuja, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, and TUC President, Bobboi Kaigama, said the campaign against corruption must be intensified and sustained.

To drum support for the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari, they said the organised labour would hold a mass rally on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr. Wabba said the NLC was in support of whatever would address the issue of corruption in the country, including death sentence.

“If such capital punishment can happen in China, India and South Africa, it can also happen in Nigeria; whatever measure that will address the issue of this mind-boggling corruption in the country, NLC will support it,” he said.

Mr. Wabba noted that corruption had badly damaged the core of the country’s national existence, adding that the political leadership of the country must act decisively in order to get out of this brink of disaster.

“As organised labour, we firmly believe that the political leadership of our country must act decisively to get us out of the brink of disaster that greed and primitive accumulation [of wealth] through open looting of our commonwealth in the last six and more years, has brought us to,” said the unionist.

He said most Nigerians had been deprived standard quality of living due to massive corruption in the polity, adding that organised labour would no longer watch the culture of impunity.

According to him, the NLC supports the establishment of anti-corruption courts to try corruption cases in the country.

Mr. Wabba said the federal government should ensure that all funds illegally taken from the treasury were traced and the perpetrators brought to book.

He called for the strengthening of anti-corruption laws and the provision of stringent punishment for looters, to serve as a deterrent to others.

Also speaking, Mr. Kaigama decried the level of looting at the state and local government levels across the country.

He said a situation where governors could not pay workers salary for months was worrisome.

“We have not experienced non-payment of salary for eight months in the last 20years; this is sad and this is due to the massive corruption in the country,” said the TUC president.

He also said that the country never witnessed a situation where state governments would have to receive bailout before they could pay monthly salary to workers.

He, therefore, called for the enactment of laws that would give new impetus to the fight against corruption, adding that all public officers must henceforth, declare their assets.

Mr. Kaigama also said that the TUC was in support of special anti-corruption courts, adding that joint account for states and local government must be abolished.