The Senior Advocate accused the Nigerian government of grossly violating workers’ rights and diverting public funds meant for the poor.
Nigerian human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to urgently rise and enforce the country’s labour and welfare laws.
The Senior Advocate accused the Nigerian government of grossly violating workers’ rights and diverting public funds meant for the poor.
In a statement made available to SaharaReporters on Thursday to celebrate Workers’ Day, Falana condemned the systematic looting and abandonment of Nigeria’s most vulnerable citizens.
He warned that the ruling elite have turned the nation's economy into a playground for self-enrichment while millions suffer.
“The members of the ruling class have sold public enterprises and awarded oil blocks to themselves,” Falana said.
He continued: “They have criminally diverted the commonwealth under the guise of privatisation, and those left out have resorted to smuggling solid minerals. The state is concentrating wealth in the hands of a few — in direct violation of the Nigerian Constitution.”
Citing Sections 16 and 17 of the 1999 Constitution, Falana reminded the NLC and TUC of the constitutional mandate compelling the state to ensure suitable shelter, food, healthcare, equal pay, and good working conditions for all citizens.
Yet, according to him, these laws are now observed in breach.
Lamenting the state of corruption in the country, Falana said, “In utter violation of the economic objective of the State, the members of the ruling class have sold public enterprises and awarded oil blocks and granted licences for solid minerals to themselves.
“Thus, the State has engaged in concentrating the commonwealth in the hands of a few people contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution. However, some of those who lost out in the criminal diversion of the commonwealth through privatisation and award of oil blocks have engaged in the smuggling of solid minerals.”
He exposed how N135 billion in Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds remain unaccessed due to state governments’ refusal to pay counterpart funding, a dereliction of duty that has pushed over 20 million Nigerian children out of school.
“The Federal and state governments are legally bound to provide free education up to Junior Secondary School,” Falana declared.
“But they have failed, and now they are in court challenging the locus standi of those suing to enforce that right. This shows their total disdain for the children of the poor.”
The legal luminary also decried the refusal of about 20 state governments to implement the newly legislated N70,000 minimum wage for local government and primary school workers.
He also accused public and private employers of openly flouting the National Minimum Wage Act, 2024.
“Despite having a binding law, the federal government is complicit in refusing to ensure full implementation,” he said.
In what he described as an institutionalised betrayal of workers, Falana revealed how pensioners are now victims of government borrowing.
According to him, the federal government has taken N10 trillion from the pension fund, even as retirees struggle to access their entitlements.
“The National Pension Commission reported that assets in the pension industry hit N22.5 trillion as of December 2024,” he noted.
“Yet the government borrows from workers' retirement savings while old people die waiting for what is rightfully theirs.”
Falana further exposed a multi-billion-dollar fraud in the National Housing Fund (NHF), a mandatory scheme funded by 2.5% deductions from workers' salaries. He pointed to the November 2024 arraignment of former Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) boss, Gimba Ya’u Kumo, who allegedly diverted $65 million to construct 962 residential units in Abuja.
“The NHF has been hijacked by crooks,” Falana alleged. “In fact, in 2012, Kumo himself confessed that unscrupulous employers had looted the fund to the tune of N100 billion.”
He challenged the NLC and TUC to monitor Kumo’s trial and demand a full ICPC investigation into the housing fund scandals and the recovery of the stolen funds.
“The NLC and TUC owe workers a historic duty,” Falana stressed. “They must ensure that the $65 million and N100 billion stolen from the housing fund are fully recovered and used to build decent homes for Nigerian workers.”
He concluded by urging the labour unions to abandon passive lobbying and mount sustained pressure on the federal government for the full enforcement of welfare laws and international labour conventions.
“It is high time the NLC and TUC mobilised workers and allies. The enforcement of these welfare laws will go a long way in improving the living conditions of Nigerian people. Enough is enough,” Falana declared.