Foreign prisoners working in Nigeria’s construction industry – Senate Committee

The joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Interior has alleged that foreign prisoners coming into the country are being engaged in construction in guise of expatriates.

This was made known on Wednesday at the 2024 budget defence by the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo at the National Assembly, Abuja.

The influx of foreign prisoners into the country, according to the Committee, was made possible through the Ministry of Interior’s issuance of expatriate quotas.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said, the expatriate quotas system was giving opportunity for foreigners to steal jobs meant for Nigerians.

Earlier, the Minister of Interior had told the joint Committee that
the Ministry of Interior surpassed its budgetary target of N600 million revenue from issuance of expatriate quotas in the 2023 fiscal year by generating N1.195 billion from January to October this year.

The Minister who is a former member of the House of Representatives explained the Ministry looks at merits before issuing expatriate quotas to deserving foreigners.

He submitted to the committee that in 2023, while N600 million was targeted as revenue to be generated from issuance of expatriate quotas to deserving foreign firms in the country, N1.195 billion has as at October 31, 2023, been generated.

“Aside the projected revenue from expatriate quotas that had been surpassed by about N600 million extra, the N380 million projected revenue from marriage has also been surpassed by over N500 million with N892.774 million realised as at October 31, 2023”, he said.

But Oshiomhole insisted: “While it is heartwarming that the Ministry surpassed its revenue targets on issuance of expatriates quotas, the policy is giving room for expatriates to steal jobs meant for Nigerians in Nigeria.”

“Your Ministry needs to regulate issuance of the quotas very well as I have on good authority that prisoners from foreign land are working in Nigeria as construction workers.

“This is even different from the age long fraud the oil companies have been carrying out in the country through the policy of expatriate quotas by making our own qualified engineers to work under foreign technicians.”

According to him, Nigerians are in the country live inside containers, “I even believe and dare say it that there are foreign prisoners who are working in Nigeria. They were shipped to our country to serve their prison terms.”

“They were being paid according to their country’s minimum wage by the construction industry that brought them. I don’t want to mention the company’s name but if I am provoked, I will mention them.

“Honourable Minister, this is a serious issue, prisoners are not expected to work in their countries if the product or whatever they engage in is meant to be exported”, he said.

Asked to react to some issues raised, the Minister told the Committee that the Ministry has designed a project for job protection for Nigerians.

We have designed what we called
Expatriate Employee Network, EEN primarily aimed to safeguard jobs meant for Nigerians from been stolen by expatriates.p