PHCN defunct workers to shut down Electricity distribution if....

 

WORKERS of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) under aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) today threatened to shut down operations of all electricity distribution facilities in Lagos, if Federal Government fails to pay their entitlements.
   As plans for the show down gathered momentum, the workers yesterday staged a peaceful protest at Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Ikeja, Lagos.


  Business activities at the headquarters and other district offices were disrupted for some hours as protesters barricaded the entrance to show their grievance on government’s failure to settle their entitlements.
   The National Vice-President of the union, Mbang Ntukubes said workers would not hesitate to shut down all power installations in Lagos if government refuses to attend to their grievances.
  Ntukubes alleged that the Federal Government had reneged in the agreements reached with the workers over their terminal benefits.
  The union scribe stated that over 10,000 workers in the power sector have not been paid their severance entitlement, while over 25,000 workers have not received their pension components.
   “Over 5,000 workers who retired statutorily are yet to be paid their gratuity. The death benefits of over 1,000 people who died in active service are yet to be paid to their families,” he added.
   The Lagos State Secretary of the union, Oluwagbenga Eric, said it was agreed with government not to sack any worker until they are fully paid but government violated workers fundamental rights.
  “We are not against privatisation but government should pay us our money and allow us to rest in our respective homes.
  “It was agreed that workers should be allowed to be on duty for six months for the new investors’ engineers to take over in other to understudy us, but we are already forced out in the name of privatisation which is against the labour law,” he said.
   Debunking the allegations of sabotage from the workers, Eric attributed the reasons for poor power to a situation where all capable engineers that understood the system and the machines had been sacked.
   “Today, we hardly generate 2,500 mega watts, there is need for total overhaul of the power sector to meet up to customers’ expectations,” he said.
   Addressing the protesting workers, the acting Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises ( BPE), Ibrahim Babagana, apologised to the affected workers, explaining that shortfall in payment was due to some errors in computing records.
   Babagana assured that all workers would be paid within the next four weeks, adding that the management of power sector and all labour unions will hold a technical meeting on Thursday, January 16, to chat a new course.
   He said: “I am worried and seriously embittered about the situation you found yourselves. I cannot pretend to say I don’t know what is going on in the system but it is not easy to compute about 47,000 workers entitlements without errors.
   “We have identified those mistakes and we are working on it. I want to implore those who have not received their severance packages to put their names down while I assured prompt payment.
 “I will not be part of those who feel that making you to suffer is the way to address issues, I am also part of you and I know one day, I will definitely be like you to get my entitlements, so I do not want to be maltreated like this.”
  Earlier, the BPE had debunked NUEE’s allegation that the workers were being owed, saying that only 4.5 per cent of the workers were yet to be paid.