Power Holding Company Of Nigeria To Hand Over Today November 1
Handing over of physical assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to new owners by the Federal Government today, the workers’ union have directed its members to stay away from work effective today.
General Secretary, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Comrade Joe Ajaero, in a statement on Thursday, said it became imperative for all workers to stay away from PHCN offices to avoid intimidations by the military officers deployed to ensure peaceful handing over to the new owners.
According to him, “we are worried over the Bureau of Public Enterprises’ (BPE) desperate moves to hand over PHCN facilities to the new investors without conclusively resolving all labour-related issues.
“For clarity purpose, 68 per cent of the gratuity payments have been made, while those that retired from service since 2011 have not received their benefits of about N19 billion.
“Part of our agreement, which stipulates that a training and counselling programme shall be organised for workers before disengagement in order to enlighten them on business and investment opportunities in line with international best practice, has been flagrantly violated by BPE.”
He, however, stated that “we urge all workers of PHCN to withdraw their services from any unit in event of further provocation by armed military personnel desperate to take over installations.”
Moreover, efforts by the union to stage a protest at some PHCN offices were unsuccessful on Thursday, as military personnel deployed to these offices prevented the moves.
When the Nigerian Tribune visited offices of Ikeja Distribution Company on Thursday, workers were initially prevented from gaining entry into their offices, but the swift intervention of the military personnel brought sanity to the environment.
The workers who tried to picket the offices belonged to NUEE which comprised of junior workers, while members of the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEC) went about their businesses.
One of the workers who pleaded anonymity informed the Nigerian Tribune that the reason was that senior staff had been fully paid their entitlements, while few of the junior workers were yet to be paid.
It will be recalled that the Federal Government said 40,093 workers had so far been paid while the few ones remaining would be paid before end of work on Thursday (yesterday).
FG accepts CME/Eurofric’s $201m bid
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has extended, by three months, the deadline within which CMEC/EuroAfric Ltd, the preferred bidder for Sapele Generation Company (GENCO), should come up with the balance of $21 million out of the $201 million which the company bid for the GENCO under the Federal Government privatisation programme.
The bid winner could only come up with $108 million before the close of deadline to do so, necessitating the extension as the reserve bidder bid only $106 million.
The decision to grant the extension was reached at the seventh meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
According to the the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr Samuel Ortom, who briefed newsmen after the meeting, the company had applied for the extension, which was then referred to the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Legal Committee of NCP.
He said there was then a unanimity in opinion that the extension should be granted, saying, “you will recall that at the last meeting of the NCP, where decisions on the payment of the preferred bidder was referred to the Attorney-General of the Federation and the legal committee of the NCP for advice.
“NCP received the unanimous opinions of the two applications for extension. The NCP subsequently granted the request of the company.”
General Secretary, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Comrade Joe Ajaero, in a statement on Thursday, said it became imperative for all workers to stay away from PHCN offices to avoid intimidations by the military officers deployed to ensure peaceful handing over to the new owners.
According to him, “we are worried over the Bureau of Public Enterprises’ (BPE) desperate moves to hand over PHCN facilities to the new investors without conclusively resolving all labour-related issues.
“For clarity purpose, 68 per cent of the gratuity payments have been made, while those that retired from service since 2011 have not received their benefits of about N19 billion.
“Part of our agreement, which stipulates that a training and counselling programme shall be organised for workers before disengagement in order to enlighten them on business and investment opportunities in line with international best practice, has been flagrantly violated by BPE.”
He, however, stated that “we urge all workers of PHCN to withdraw their services from any unit in event of further provocation by armed military personnel desperate to take over installations.”
Moreover, efforts by the union to stage a protest at some PHCN offices were unsuccessful on Thursday, as military personnel deployed to these offices prevented the moves.
When the Nigerian Tribune visited offices of Ikeja Distribution Company on Thursday, workers were initially prevented from gaining entry into their offices, but the swift intervention of the military personnel brought sanity to the environment.
One of the workers who pleaded anonymity informed the Nigerian Tribune that the reason was that senior staff had been fully paid their entitlements, while few of the junior workers were yet to be paid.
It will be recalled that the Federal Government said 40,093 workers had so far been paid while the few ones remaining would be paid before end of work on Thursday (yesterday).
FG accepts CME/Eurofric’s $201m bid
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has extended, by three months, the deadline within which CMEC/EuroAfric Ltd, the preferred bidder for Sapele Generation Company (GENCO), should come up with the balance of $21 million out of the $201 million which the company bid for the GENCO under the Federal Government privatisation programme.
The bid winner could only come up with $108 million before the close of deadline to do so, necessitating the extension as the reserve bidder bid only $106 million.
The decision to grant the extension was reached at the seventh meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
According to the the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr Samuel Ortom, who briefed newsmen after the meeting, the company had applied for the extension, which was then referred to the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Legal Committee of NCP.
He said there was then a unanimity in opinion that the extension should be granted, saying, “you will recall that at the last meeting of the NCP, where decisions on the payment of the preferred bidder was referred to the Attorney-General of the Federation and the legal committee of the NCP for advice.
“NCP received the unanimous opinions of the two applications for extension. The NCP subsequently granted the request of the company.”
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