The Director General of the Bureau of Public
Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki, has
assured stakeholders that payment of
outstanding payment of labour liabilities to
Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)
workers is to be concluded next week.
Dikki reaffirmed that the Federal Government is
committed to concluding the payment of all
verified entitlements of the staff of PHCN
successor companies before the end of second
week of October and immediately, commence
the process of physical handover of the assets
to the new owners.
The BPE boss stated this in Abeokuta, Ogun
State, on the sidelines of the burial ceremony in
honour of the mother of the Chairman, Senate
Committee on Privatisation and
Commercialisation, Senator Olugbenga Obadara.
He disclosed that the funds required for the
exercise have been remitted to the Office of the
Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF)
who has transferred same to commercial banks
for onward payment to the workers.
The director general recalled that the Federal
Government had earmarked the entire $2.6
billion proceeds expected from the sale of PHCN
successor companies for the settlement of the
benefits of the staff.
He, however, regretted that the delay in
concluding payments to some staff was as a
result of differences in names, multiple
Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) and wrong
account numbers submitted by some staff.
He promised that as auditors verify and
reconcile the differences, payments would be
concluded as expeditiously as possible.
The National Union of Electricity Employees
(NUEE) had in a recent statement protested the
planned handover, saying several labour issues
had not been settled. It, therefore, said if the
government continued with its action, the PHCN
workers would not be able to guarantee
electricity supply after Wednesday, October 2,
2013.
The union, in a statement by its General
Secretary, Mr. Joe Ajaero, said: “Because of the
Independence Day ceremonies, we will be
patient to allow for full celebrations. However,
we hereby urge Nigerians to bear with us if
after October 2, 2013 the government goes
ahead with her illicit handover to the investors
in a forceful takeover. The implication will be
that the workers would have technically been
asked to withdraw their services and we may
not be able to guarantee smooth operations.
Consequently, if after October 2, 2013, the
office of the vice president fails to correct this
misleading information, we shall not guarantee
supply of electricity in the country. This is not a
threat as our earlier ultimatum has expired.”
The union listed issues that were not resolved to
include the non-conclusion of payment of
terminal benefits to the workers; non-payment
of retirement savings to the workers’ Pension
Fund Administrators (PFAs) and non-remittance
of two per cent of the union deductions as
agreed.
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