LNRBDA workers threaten to drag MD, Olumoroti to EFCC, others for alleged corrupt practices
Aggrieved staff members under the banner of the National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees (NUAAE) have threatened to formally report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the corrupt practices of the Managing Director of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA), Engr Olushola George Olumoroti, in the last one year of his assumption of office.
The workers urged anti-corruption agencies such as Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Related Commission (ICPC) and Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to beam their searchlights on the financial management of the authority under the stewardship of Olumoroti.
In a statement issued through the Chairman, Kwara State Council of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Muritala Saheed Olayinka, and made available to Journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday, the aggrieved members of staff vowed to write the anti-graft institutions in the coming days should the embattled Managing Director continue to harass and intimidate them for protesting against mismanagement in the authority.
“We call on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to beam their searchlights on the activities and transactions at LNRBDA under the current management, as we will be formally writing to these agencies with documented evidence in the days ahead,” the statement said.
The workers recalled that NUAAE in collaboration with NLC members on Monday undertook a peaceful protest against the maladministration in the authority but noted that some thugs with cutlasses on the alleged instructions of Olumoroti confronted the protesters, resulting in injuries in the process.
They alleged that the LNRBDA Managing Director had chosen to victimize some union leaders in the authority for insisting that he follows due process in the management of the authority.
The workers also accused Olumoroti of usurping the responsibility of the Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the authority in a way that has brewed suspicion and questioned his commitment to financial discipline as the Chief Executive Officer of the organization.
The labour movement exonerated its members of any violent conduct during the peaceful protest on anti-labour policies of the management of the authority, calling for an independent investigation into the face-off that occured during the protest.
Accusing the Managing Director of LNRBDA of victimization, the aggrieved workers demanded the withdrawal of queries issued to workers in the authority and as well as the release of withheld promotion letters of the staff members of the authority.
The union called on the Minister of Water Resources to probe the activities of Olumoroti in the management of the authority.
The labour union added, “The Honourable Minister of Water Resources is urged to order a full, independent, and transparent investigation into the financial management, procurement practices, and administrative conduct of Engr Olushola George Olumoroti as MD/CEO of LNRBDA.
“The Ministry is further called upon to direct that the GIFMIS platform enrollment procedures be immediately corrected to restore the rightful authority of the ED Finance and Administration in line with extant financial regulation.”
It would be recalled that members of the organized labour including Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees (NUAAE), on Monday, picketed the entrance and exit gates of LNRBDA in Ilorin over anti-labour stance of the Managing Director and demanded that he changes his attitude toward members of staff of the authority.
