The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Kwara State council, has petitioned President Bola Tinubu over the alleged victimisation of workers, suppression of accountability, and procurement irregularities under the leadership of George Olushola Olumoroti, the managing director of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) in Ilorin.

In the open letter sent to the Peoples Gazette on Thursday, the NLC accused Mr Olumoroti of administrative misconduct within the LNRBDA, a federal institution tasked with advancing Mr Tinubu’s food security and agricultural development agenda. 

“Unfortunately, the LNRBDA has become increasingly engulfed in division, fear, victimisation, suppression of accountability, and serious allegations of procurement irregularities under the present leadership,” the NLC wrote.

Mr Olumoroti, however, denied the allegations, describing them as untrue and baseless.

“Those allegations are untrue; they’re baseless. My administration has been fighting to ensure that funds are properly being remitted to the government,” Mr Olumoroti said in an interview with The Gazette on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the NLC noted that workers at the LNRBDA had raised concerns about what they described as a growing culture of intimidation, selective victimisation, wrongful demotions, withholding of promotion letters, punitive queries, and the suppression of officers who demand accountability or engage in union activities.

“There are also serious concerns surrounding procurement activities within the LNRBDA. The managing director was reported to have stated before union representatives that the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) was aware of procurement irregularities within the Authority. If true, such a statement raises grave concerns about institutional accountability. If false, it represents a reckless and damaging allegation against a key federal regulatory institution,” the NLC said.

The NLC further noted the need to probe the alleged procurement fraud and financial irregularities.

Reacting to the concerns raised by the NLC, Mr Olumoroti accused Mudi Raji, the state chairman of the National Union of Agric and Allied Employees (NUAAE), of instigating the NLC’s open letter to the president.

Mr Olumoroti said, “I believe that Mr Mudi Raji, a staff at the LNRBDA, who is also the state chairman of National Union of Agric and Allied Employees (NUAAE), which is an affiliate of the NLC, is behind the letter. He (Raji) was found guilty of financial impropriety, and he’s behind the unfounded allegations against me. 

“There were eight of them that were probed, while three of them were acquitted, five of them were found guilty, including Mr Raji. He was supposed to be sacked, but due to consideration of his many years of service, his punishment was reduced.”

Meanwhile, the NLC urged Mr Tinubu to probe the allegations of unauthorised deployment of the LNRBDA heavy-duty equipment by Mr Olumoroti without proper accountability procedures.

The NLC also asked the president to probe alleged diversion of government revenues through unsupervised use of public assets, alleged use of official government vehicles for private purposes, victimisation of workers for participating in lawful labour activities and peaceful protests.

It also called for a probe into the refusal to release public information and directives of the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation requested under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, which it says raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability within the LNRBDA.

The NLC further demanded an independent forensic investigation into procurement and financial activities within the LNRBDA. 

It also urged the president to investigate allegations concerning the supply of refurbished tractors allegedly presented as new assets and investigate the statement allegedly linking the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to procurement irregularities within the LNRBDA.

The NLC further urged the president to direct the immediate release of all public information and ministerial directives being withheld in violation of the Freedom of Information Act.