Govt owes 50,000 ex-workers of PHCN – NUEE

The National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, says over 50,000 former workers at the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, were still being owed by the Federal Government.
In a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari over the handling of the Federal Government’s privatisation programme in the power sector, NUEE stated that over 5,000 of the former PHCN employees had not received any entitlement at all.
According to the petition signed by NUEE’s General Secretary, Mr. Joe Ajaero, the union’s agreement with the government that the PHCN should not be liquidated until all labour issues in the privatisation process was concluded had not been adhered to.
The union, therefore, urged President Buhari to prevent the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, which oversaw the privatisation process, from liquidating PHCN’s the remaining assets until all the issues were fully addressed.
“BPE has refused to release needed fund to the Implementation Committee headed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Ighali, for conclusion of verifications and payment of staff entitlements, but allegedly paid another government agency, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, N500 million as consultancy fee for the same purpose,” the union alleged in the petition.
It added: “While PHCN workers are suffering, two years after they were disengaged, BPE should tell Nigerians where they have allegedly fixed the over N50 billion meant for the payment of entitlements of ex-PHCN employees. BPE should tell Nigerians where the documents of PHCN property in the United Kingdom are kept.
“The hurry to liquidate is to frustrate the power sector probe instituted by the Senate, and close shop before the appointment of a substantive Minister.”