LABOUR GROUP CALLS FOR HARSHER STAND AGAINST CORRUPTION

The Integrity Group of Industrial Unions on Thursday called on law enforcement agencies to be more committed to anti-corruption crusade as a way out of the menace.

The call was contained in a statement signed Mr Leke Success, President, National Union of Hotel and Personal Service Workers (NUHPSW), and Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary, Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU).

The union alleged that the unusual silence of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the entire subsidy scam and the subsequent bribery scanda was worrisome.

“ EFCC's silence is awkward and this triggers the popular fear that the bribery circuit is part of a larger conspiracy to bury the monumental fraud.

'We urge the EFCC to reassure Nigerians that this situation is redeemable.

“We condemn the dramatisation of the subsidy scam and urge the respective anti-corruption agencies to make the desired interventions and unravel the truth surrounding the entire bribery scandal,'' the union said.

The statement said it was sad that such a crime– to swindle the country of trillions of naira– has unfortunately been turned into a mere circus show as a result of allegations and counter allegations.

The statement advised President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that those found culpable in the subsidy scam were not spared because many lost their lives during the January protests on the issue.

It said it was pertinent for the President to also use the subsidy fraud to intervene in the state of the economy and save the country from neo-liberal policies to ensure growth and development.

The statement said that the 2.6 trillion lost to subsidy scam could have been used to build refineries long before now and save Nigerians from the embarrassment.