Lower Niger River Basin impasse: NLC, NUAAE defend action

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Kwara state chapter has waded into the crisis currently pitching the authority Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) in Ilorin and its members operating under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Agricultural and Allied Employees (NUAAE).

The LNRBDA, a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, is responsible for dam construction, irrigation, flood and erosion control, and agricultural support across its coverage area.

Before now, the union had alleged poor leadership among other allegations against the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Olushola George Olumoroti, an allegation that he later countered a few days ago in a published report.

Olumoroti, who spoke at a press conference, had accused a senior union leader in the agency, Mr. Mudi Olayinka Raji, of masterminding a violent disturbance at the authority in an attempt to frustrate an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption and misconduct.

Olumoroti further alleged that the unrest, which reportedly disrupted official activities and led to attacks on staff members, was orchestrated to stop a committee set up to investigate claims by Raji that evidence against him was forged.

But countering the CEO’s claims, the union atva oress briefing alleged poor leadership, failed promises among other offences as the reasons they are at loggerheads with Olumoroti.

They went back memory lane, saying after he assumed office in April 2025, three months after President Bola Tinubu approved the reconstitution of the executive management of 12 River Basin Development Authorities in December 2024, he pledged to reposition the authority on its mandate of ensuring food abundance and food security within one year, resuscitate a moribund water factory and Basin farms, and prioritise staff welfare, expressing regrets that those commitments that he promised workers have not been met.

But as the situation escalated, the labour movement in the state has waded in, warning stakeholders against infusing any forms of bias, insisting that the labour movement does not act on emotions, bias, or sentiments in all its dealings.

The apex union said every action taken by the NUAAE and the NLC in relation to the affairs of LNRBDA is grounded in facts, documented evidence, established due process, and the protection of the rights and welfare of Nigerian workers.

In a strongly worded statement made available to Blueprint in Abuja on Wednesday, the state chairman, Kwara NLC, Comrade Saheed Olayinka, the NLC frowned at and rejected in its entirety the attempts by the Managing Director to portray the legitimate agitation of workers as the act of a single aggrieved individual.

The union wondered why the managing director has characterised the actions of workers on 11th May as a “violent disturbance” and “hooliganism” and even attempted to paint the NLC and NUAAE members as aggressors.

The union described the move as calculated inversion of the truth, designed to criminalise the victims and shield the perpetrators.

NLC stated further that members and NUAAE members merely conducted a peaceful protest outside the gates of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, saying that it was not only lawful, orderly, and consistent with the constitutional rights of Nigerian workers to freedom of assembly and expression, the union said at no point did the protesting workers threaten, assault, or provoke any individual.

The union noted that having carefully reviewed the press statement issued by Engr. Olushola George Olumoroti, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA), dated 11th May, 2026, it felt compelled as a responsible and law-abiding labour movement to set the record straight, correct deliberate misrepresentations, and present the facts as they truly are to the Nigerian public, relevant government authorities, and all anti-corruption agencies.

Kwara NLC cautioned further that the Labour Movement, in its character and tradition, does not act on emotions, bias, or sentiments, adding: ” Every action taken by the NUAAE and the NLC in relation to the affairs of LNRBDA is grounded in facts, documented evidence, established due process, and the protection of the rights and welfare of Nigerian workers. We reject, in its entirety.”

The NLC has therefore demanded the immediate payment of all outstanding 28-day relocation allowances owed to transferred and newly employed staff of LNRBDA.

They also demanded the immediate correction of all erroneous grade level placements of our members in LNRBDA, the proper and accurate placement of affected members at their rightful grade levels in accordance with extant public service rules and their years of service, and the unconditional release of all withheld promotion letters belonging to our members.

In the same vein, they have also called on the Nigeria Police Force to take up, as a matter of urgency, the investigation of the cutlass attack on peaceful NLC and NUAAE protesters on 11th May, 2026, and to hold the sponsors and perpetrators of that violence fully accountable.

They asked that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) beam their searchlights on the activities and transactions at LNRBDA under the current management, insisting that with video evidence and others at its disposal, the union would not be silenced.

Making reference to intimidation that predates the MD/CEO tenure, the NLC noted with dismay the victimization of Comrade Mudi Olayinka Raji and other union leaders and members in LNRBDA, which according to the union did not begin under the current management.

It reads further: ” It began under the tenure of Engr. Saheed Aremu, the immediate past Managing Director, at the time when the Union formally reported his maladministration to the Honourable Minister of Water Resources.

“That act of reporting corruption in the interest of the Nigerian public was met, not with investigation or gratitude, but with deliberate persecution.The corrupt case that was reported by the Union chose to fight back

” Comrade Raji, who was the Branch Chairman at the time, became the primary target. He was abruptly removed from his position as Area Manager, Ilorin Area office, a punitive transfer by all reasonable interpretations. This is the foundation upon which the current management has continued to build its campaign of harassment.The Managing Director has presented the disciplinary process against Comrade Mudi Olayinka Raji as thorough, fair, and multi-layered. The truth is the exact opposite.Following his removal as Area Manager, Comrade Raji submitted a handing-over note as required. He was subsequently notified in writing to provide clarifications on certain aspects of that handing-over report. He duly responded to all the issues raised in writing.

“However, instead of being issued a formal query, which is the fundamental requirement of natural justice and public service rules before any disciplinary committee can be constituted, he was summoned directly before a disciplinary committee. He was never queried. A disciplinary committee without a prior query is a nullity in law and public service procedure.

“Furthermore, the disputed IOUs referenced by the Managing Director relate to transactions as far back as 2018. Disciplinary proceedings against Comrade Raji were only initiated in 2022, a gap of four years. During this period, multiple audits were conducted at LNRBDA, and none of those audits raised any findings or concerns against Comrade Raji.

“It is a fundamental principle of administrative fairness and due process that matters reviewed and cleared through established audit processes cannot be selectively reopened years later without credible new evidence, for purposes that are clearly punitive and political.It is also critically important that the Nigerian public understands the internal financial structure and accountability chain that governs the operations of an Area Office such as the Ilorin Area Office. The Area Office Accountant is the designated custodian of all funds in the Area Office. It is the Area Office Accountant who releases funds as required for operational exigencies, and it is equally the statutory responsibility of the Area Office Accountant to ensure that all IOUs approved by the Area Manager are duly tracked, monitored, and retired in accordance with financial regulations. The Area Manager approves; the Accountant controls, disburses, and ensures retirement.If any IOU approved by Comrade Raji in his capacity as Area Manager was not duly retired, the primary accountability for that failure rests with the Area Office Accountant who was the designated officer responsible for ensuring retirement of all such IOUs.

“The Managing Director’s attempt to lay sole culpability at the feet of Comrade Raji, while completely ignoring the role and responsibility of the Accountant in the retirement process, is not only procedurally dishonest, it exposes the selective and targeted nature of this entire disciplinary exercise.

“A fair and proper investigation would have examined the conduct and records of the Area Office Accountant with equal, if not greater, scrutiny. The fact that it did not speak volumes about the true intent behind this persecution.

“We wish to state, clearly, categorically, and without any equivocation, that this allegation is entirely false and deeply misleading.As at 11th May, 2026, the very date of the protest, Comrade Mudi Olayinka Raji had not been formally communicated, in writing or otherwise, of any Ministerial directive, nor of the inauguration of any such verification committee.

“No letter, memo, notice, or official correspondence of any kind had been served on Comrade Raji informing him that a committee had been constituted to review his claims, or that he was expected to appear before or cooperate with such a committee on that date or at any time shortly thereafter.How then can the Managing Director credibly allege that the Union mobilised a protest to obstruct a process that its principal subject had not even been officially informed about?

“This claim does not stand up to the most basic scrutiny. It is an afterthought, a convenient narrative constructed to justify the violent suppression of a legitimate labour protest and to deflect attention from the genuine grievances of workers.We challenge the Managing Director to produce, openly and publicly, documentary evidence showing the date on which Comrade Mudi Olayinka Raji was officially notified of the Ministerial directive and the inauguration of the verification committee. If no such communication was issued before 11th May, 2026, and we are confident none was, then the Managing Director owes Comrade Raji, the Union, and the Nigerian public a full and unreserved apology for this deliberate misrepresentation.

“The Managing Director has characterised the actions of workers on 11th May as a “violent disturbance” and “hooliganism,” and has attempted to paint the NLC and NUAAE members as aggressors. This characterisation is not only false. It is a calculated inversion of the truth, designed to criminalise the victims and shield the perpetrators.”