ELECTRICITY WORKERS PROTEST HANDING OVER OF PHCN TO NEW INVESTORS

Some disengaged workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)
in Lagos and Edo on Monday staged protests over non-payment of their
terminal benefits before handing over to the new investors.
The President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday handed over the certificates
and licence to buyers of successor companies of PHCN.
The gesture signaled the government's disengagement from the
management of the plants.
The Federal Government would, however, continue to oversee the
transmission network in the interim.
All the PHCN offices in Lagos were under lock and key, while the
workers, serving or retired, carried placards with...
various
inscriptions demanding for payment of their benefits.
Some of the inscriptions read: "Pay our money; we are ready to leave,
"Over 50 per cent of workers' benefits are still outstanding" and "FG
should pay us before handing over."
In Auchi, the workers also stormed the major streets calling on the
Federal Government to pay their entitlements before handing over to
the new investors.
Mr Adeleke Ibrahim, the chairman, Lagos State Chapter, National Union
of Electricity Employees (NUEE), said that the protest was because of
government's failure to pay them before handling the companies to new
owners.
Ibrahim said that the Federal Government had not paid severance
package, pensions and gratuities to about 50,951 workers as at Sept.
27.
"It is expected that the agencies saddled with the responsibility of
paying the workers' benefits would have done that before officially
handing over to the new investors.
"PHCN workers nationwide will not leave their offices until all our
severance packages are duly paid by the government's agencies saddled
with the computation of the packages,'' he said.
Mr Olusegun Afolorunso, the NUEE chairman in Eko Electricity
Distribution Company, said that only 25 per cent of the workers had
been paid.
"We were directed on Sunday night by our leaders that all our offices
should be locked in protest against non-payment of our severance
packages.
"Though, the Federal Government has commenced payment, only 25 per
cent of the entire workers nationwide were settled.
"The new investors just want to come and take over our offices as
directed by the Federal Government without settling our benefits that
is why we are protesting," he said.
Mr Ganiyu Iyaniwura, the union chairman in PHCN Ijora Business
District, said, "we planned our own independent protest because of the
non-payment of our arrears by the Eko Electricity Distribution
Company.
"We are being owed backlogs of 11 months from 2011 to 2012 before the
National Electricity Liability Management (NELCO) took over.
"We want to know the plan the Federal Government has for us because
when you are handing over to new companies they are supposed to take
over on a clean slate.
"The new companies that are coming do not know us. So, the Federal
Government should settle us first," he said.
Mr Adebola Adedoja, the Lagos Island Chapter chairman of the National
Union of Pensioners, said that the Federal Government still owed
pensioners some benefits.
Mr Shaibu Nassir, the NUEE Secretary in Edo, said that the protest was
to register the workers' grievances against the handing over of PHCN
to the new investors without the settlement of their severance
packages.
"The Federal Government and the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE)
cannot hand over PHCN to new investors without settling the labour
issues as earlier agreed with the union.
"All our entitlements have not been settled by the Federal Government
and BPE officials are all over the PHCN offices across the states
planning to hand over,'' he said.
Mr Kareem Iluedo, the Chairman of NUEE, Auchi Chapter, said that
Federal Government had not paid majority of the PHCN workers.
"We are not against privatisation, but all benefits accrued to us must
be paid before the handing over.
"We are ready to work along with the Federal Government, but all the
labour issues should be settled.
"We are afraid of being thrown into the labour market without
collecting our full entitlements,'' he said.