Aggrieved workers of Kwara State Water Corporation under the aegis of
Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) have passed a vote of no confidence in the acting General Manager of the corporation, Engineer Sheu Umar.
They accused Umar of intimidation of staff, bad administration, sabotaging government effort in the ongoing rehabilitation of water facilities and poor staff welfare among others.
The workers therefore urged the state Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, to immediately remove the acting General Manager of the corporation and replace him with a progressive minded person with progressive policies.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Chairman, state water corporation branch of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Comrade Issa Olusesan and made available to Journalists in Ilorin today.
The statement alleged Umar of running a one man management and also making the atmosphere of working unbearable for staff.
The statement added that the acting General Manager of the state water corporation was no longer fit to function as the helmsman of the agency, hence the need to find his replacement.
It lauded Governor AbdulRazaq for his efforts geared towards provision of portable water in the state.
The statement also congratulated the Governor on his re-election for another term and prayed for a successful tenure of office.
But in a swift reaction, the state water corporation General Manager accused the aggrieved workers of a ploy to cover up fraudulent activities involving some of their colleagues.
He disclosed that some staff were suspended recently for stealing chemicals belonging to the corporation, adding that the theft has been going on for the past 25 years.
Umar added that the resistance of the aggrieved workers over the disciplinary measures taken against some staff for stealing and non-remittance of revenue due to the coffers of the state government was a case of corruption fighting back.
“They want to cover up their fraudulent activities. KWIRS said they want to be going out with them (aggrieved workers) to have a schedule for Monday from first week of May. KWIRS found out that revenue coming in is too meagre. They sat with us and said if that is the case, they want to be going out with us. They (aggrieved workers) went back to report to their members.
“Secondly, they stole chemicals. The stealing has been going on for the past 25 years. The board and management suspended some culpable staff for that. Ordinarily, they should be dismissed from service but we tempered justice with mercy, and yet they didn’t want to accept that decision.
“We had to relocate our store from Agba-Dam to Head Office for all of us to be seeing it. They know I have been part of the system and I know their way.
“So, they want a way to get me out and government said no. The government is aware of what they are doing. It is all corruption fighting back. They paid them N90,000 at the Ilorin office of the National Library of Nigeria (for water rate). They went to pay N2000 into the coffers of KWIRS and it was the KWIRS that caught them”, the acting General Manager of the state water corporation said.
