Staff of Harmony Holdings Investment and Property Development Company (HIPDC), the Kwara state government’s business enterprise on Thursday protested alleged mismanagement by leadership of the company.
The people, who carried placards of various inscriptions to express their grievance against the management, took their peaceful protest round the Ilorin metropolis, calling on Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to remove them from Harmony Holdings Limited.
Speaking with journalists, chairman of HIPDC union, Olamilekan Agboola, said that they have been allegedly denied financial packages to serve as take home in case of retirement, yearly basic salary, and bailout during covid-19 from the state government, among others.
Responding to the allegations, the group general manager (GMD) of Kwara Harmony Holdings, Abdulmajeed Abdullahi, described the protest by the staff of the HIPDC and its sub-unit, Harmony Ventures, and Supplies Limited (HVSL) as a way to thwart the ongoing corruption investigation by the management.
The GMD said that they inherited a lot of corruption in the company, which he said prompted the management to reform the organization, starting with the redeployment of some people to sanitize the system, “which has resulted to a protest and blackmailing of the management”.
He also said that the management will not stop until they find out the information about how the state’s properties, particularly some estates were mismanaged by few individuals.
The GMD, who said they have cleared about nine months outstanding salaries, however, assured that the company will look into the welfare of all the hardworking staff and see how their benefits could be paid.
He also urged the staff to return to work starting from tomorrow while the company will continue to dialogue with their union on how meet up with some of their demands.
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