Power minister says settlement of electricity workers already fulfilled

…NAPTIN, DisCos collaboration to address skills gap
Unpaid allowances, salaries, union deductions and unremitted 20- month pension contributions deducted from workers under the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) have been paid.

The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu who said this in Abuja, said the move was in fulfillment of the government’s response to the crisis that rocked Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nasarawa, Kogi, parts of Edo, Niger and Kaduna states were thrown into darkness last month following an industrial action embarked upon by electricity workers.

The interventions of the power ministry had doused the tension as a result of an MoU with electricity workers to ensure necessary actions were taken.

Aliyu said the intervention of the ministry facilitated the payment of the entitlements of AEDC staff, as agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and other stakeholders.

Aliyu reaffirmed in a release from the ministry that the Federal Government would be committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure steady electricity supply and stability in the electricity industry.

Aliyu added that the Federal Government would continue to ensure that all the electricity sector players and stakeholders work according to the rules and guidelines.

The strike action last year came at the same time as changes in shareholding in AEDC and the appointment of an interim management for AEDC by the shareholders and was endorsed by NERC and BPE.

In a similar development, Managing Director of Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc, Akin Bada, has said collaboration with National Training Power Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) was aimed at improving the competency profile of its workers.
The move, according to him, would improve service delivery to the customers by taking advantage of the training opportunities that the institute offers.

Bada said that NAPTIN had transformed itself into an international brand, such that it had become the first port of call for utilities seeking to train its personnel in the electricity industry across the African continent.

Human capital, according to him, remained the most critical asset of any organisation.

“I am happy that NAPTIN, which was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to offer a wide range of manpower development programmes consistent with the needs of the industry has shown itself to be able to respond to these needs of the training needs of the power sector. With your mandate and your pedigree as the foremost power training institute in Nigeria and the African continent therefore, AEDC will take good advantage of this opportunity to build the capacity of its workers.”