Electricity workers threaten shut down of power supply

Fears that workers of the Power Holding
Company of Nigeria, PHCN, may not get
severance benefits before the assets of PHCN
are handed over to the new owners heightened
yesterday as the National Union of Electricity
Employees, NUEE, accused the Federal Government of deploying troops to PHCN
facilities ahead of the November 1 planned
hand-over to new owners. The union claimed that deployment of troops
were attempts by the Federal Government to
cow and intimidate workers and hand over
assets to new owners without paying wokers
entitlements . They, therefore, threatened that the industry
would be shut down immediately the assets
were handed over to new owners without
payment of workers severance benefits. In a petition through its General Secretary, Joe
Ajaero, to the Minister of Power, Professor
Chinedu Nebo, the union argued that the
content of a circular by the Bureau of Public
Enterprises, BPE, to the ‘new owners of PHCN
successor companies’ calling for a meeting with the National Security Adviser, NSA, today,
had betrayed government intention. The union warned that the November 1, 2013
handover date to the new investors would
remain a mirage without conclusive resolution
of labour issues. According to the petition: “The circular, signed
by one Ibrahim Baba Gana, acting Director,
Electric Power – Bureau of Public Enterprises,
BPE, we believe is immature and in bad faith.
We wonder why Baba Gana would want to
aggravate the relative peace we are having based on the understanding that payments
would be concluded before handover. Could
this be a way of getting back at his perceived
enemies given the way he left PHCN?.”