The whistleblower and outgoing chairman of the Senior Staff Association, who exposed the rot and corruption at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), has become a subject of victimisation as the institute illegally suspended him for three months, SaharaReporters has learned.
FIIRO has been embroiled in controversy since 2019, following accusations of certificate forgery against the former Acting Director-General of the institute, Chima Igwe.
Although Igwe — described as a protégé of the late former Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu — pleaded not guilty to the allegations against him, SaharaReporters learnt that investigation reports by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) found him culpable, leading to his removal.
Targeted Victimisation by Current DG
However, reliable sources familiar with the matter told SaharaReporters that the suspended senior staff member is being persecuted and victimised by the current Director-General, Dr. Jummai Tutuwa, whose appointment was also reportedly influenced by the late minister.
It was further gathered that Igwe’s suspension was deliberately orchestrated to prevent him from contesting in the institute’s Senior Staff Association executive election, which was held on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, one of the sources stated that the suspended whistleblower was elected chairman of the senior staff association of the institute in 2019. However, a few months after his election, Igwe was accused of certificate forgery.
“When we saw the report of the allegation, as a union looking at what that report could have done to the image of the institute, we had to use our initiative to intervene and probe into it, and with that, we got to know that he didn’t have it really,” the source said.
“With that, we started agitating for his removal. This led to an invitation from the Channels TV where he (the victim) was invited to their Sunrise Daily programme with the ICPC spokesperson.
“There, we exposed the issue, and we told the public that what we needed at that time was for the ICPC to unravel the whole situation. The ICPC spokesperson mentioned there that they had started an investigation,” the source said.
According to the source, by public service rule, if such a serious allegation is levelled against someone, the right thing to do is to suspend the person.
“But at that time, they refused to suspend him (Igwe) or put him under interdiction because he was the anointed son of the former minister, late Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu,” the source said.
The source explained that after the Channels TV interview, it took months before Igwe was suspended, and the current Acting DG was appointed.
“The ICPC investigation then came out and revealed that he (Igwe) did not complete his PhD in Benin Republic,” the source added.
“However, the former minister insisted by writing to the President then that Igwe should be confirmed as the DG of FIIRO.
“But the presidency resisted the pressure and declined, and directed the head of service to set up a committee to investigate the matter.”
The committee’s report came out, and the union was vindicated; hence, the President directed the ICPC to prosecute Igwe.
“Since then, our chairman, whom they illegally suspended, has now been the target of the present DG, because the present DG was equally appointed by the late Ogbonnaya Onu,” according to one of the sources.
The source further stated that they observed that when the present Acting DG, Tutuwa, arrived, she was given a script of some kind.
“One of them was that she should relocate the headquarters of FIIRO to Abuja. Another one was to victimise our chairman as the leader of the struggle.”
However, the source stated that they began working with Tutuwa until they received information about relocating FIIRO headquarters to Abuja.
“We started talking about it to the extent that she went secretly to the National Assembly to present the FIRRO bill without anybody knowing. She changed two things in the FIIRO bill.
“One of the things she changed was to relocate FIIRO headquarters to Abuja. The second thing was the tenureship,” the source said.
The source noted that Tutuwa’s appointment letter said a five-year non-renewable single term, but she changed it on the FIIRO bill to two terms of five years each.
“When we got to know, we started talking about it publicly, and she took offence over it,” the source said.
The source told SaharaReporters that, at the time, the tenure of the suspended union chairman had expired, and Tutuwa transferred him to Delta State, which he accepted.
The source said, “After that, she set up a kangaroo disciplinary panel and this man they are persecuting was invited to the said disciplinary panel without prior query.
“At the disciplinary panel, the first allegation against him was that he showed up on Channels TV in 2020 without authorisation.
“He told them he didn’t represent the institute, that he represented the union and that he has the right to freedom of speech as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution and as a unionist.”
The source said the second allegation against the victim was that he was absent at work, “which was a blatant lie because, before he was transferred, in January of every year, we would be told to write our leave roster”.
“Before he was transferred, we did the leave roster in Lagos and the leave roster, he put March 4 as the commencing date of his leave. His director confirmed it at the panel,” the source said.
According to the source, when he arrived in Delta State, he also wrote a leave roster and dated it March 4.
By the end of February, he was expecting his leave letter, but when he didn’t get it. He wrote again to the institute that he wanted to commence his leave on March 4.
“But to date, they have not responded,” the source said.
Explaining further, the source said, “To us, silence means approval, so he decided to go on leave. But we know that the reason they did not give him the leave letter was to witch-hunt him further. That was why they said he was absent from work.
“That was how they sent a letter of suspension to him. Presently, he is on a three-month suspension, which means he will resume work in August.”
The source emphasised that the victim’s suspension was not ordinary; “it was a suspension to orchestrate illegality in the union election.”
The source said, “Before he was suspended, the election was fixed three times but Dr. Tutuwa did not allow it to be held.
“After two weeks into his suspension, a letter came out for the election, and she agreed that we should do the election because our chairman is now on suspension.
“When we were asked to nominate for the election, our chairman indicated interest that he wanted to contest in the election and today was the election but when he got to the gate, they didn’t allow him in, all in the name of capturing the union.
“What we are saying is that if you are very busy with what the government asked you to do, how will you be so much interested in what becomes what in the union?
“And this is because of the fact that our union has always been a whistleblower union in the institute.
“If not because of the leadership of our union, the institute would still have been in the web of certificate forgery.
“Unfortunately, she (the current DG) has taken that as a means to witch-hunt us; not just our chairman, but anybody who stands on justice and truth. But for now, only he was suspended.”
The source revealed that the position of Vice President of the union was allotted to Olakunle Joel, whom the DG selected.
SaharaReporters reporter, who was at the venue of the union election, observed that the institution barred visitors from entering the premises as security personnel were stationed in the building.
It was learnt that this was done to prevent loyalists of the outgoing chairman of the union from gaining access to the institution.
Suspension Tied to Union Election Manipulation
According to a director in FIIRO who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of victimisation, the outgoing chairman was suspended on trumped-up allegations to allow the institution’s preferred candidate to emerge.
“He has clout and plenty of supporters. He will surely win if he were allowed to contest, but they don’t want that.
“They put in their people whom they can easily control to do what they want because the outgoing chairman gave them a lot of problems. That’s why they don’t want him to return as chairman of the union.”
The director also stated that the DG had implemented a strict policy prohibiting any visitors from entering the institution’s premises to allegedly conceal their election rigging from public exposure.
“They are going to rig the election. We know they have their plan, that is why they don’t want anybody to enter the premises today.
“A former staff member who came to greet somebody was turned back at the gate, as well as some other people who they couldn’t ascertain as staff or students.”
Confirming that most of the people allowed to contest unopposed in the union election are stooges of the DG, the source said, “Imagine how the election will be unopposed when people are contesting. The process is already compromised.”
SaharaReporters’ attempts to obtain Tutuwa’s response to the allegations were unsuccessful, as multiple calls to her mobile phone went unanswered.