JONATHAN PRESENTS CERTIFICATES TO 14 NEW OWNERS OF PHCN •WORKERS PROTEST, LOCK OFFICES

AS the country marks 53 years of Independence, President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, assured Nigerians that better days are coming.
This was as he handed over share certificates and licenses to 14 generating (GENCOs) and distribution (DISCOs) companies, the successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), in a ceremony he described as historic.
Performing the ceremony at the State House Banquet Hall, President Jonathan said moving from a government-owned and operated electricity sector to a private sector-driven industry was the right thing to do for the nation’s economy.
The GENCOs handed over to new owners included Geregu, Ughelli, Olorunsogo and Egbin power plants, as well as Kainji and Shiroro hydro electric plants, while the DISCOs were Abuja, Benin, Eko, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Yola.
“For this administration, today’s ceremony is, indeed, a major step forward in our concerted efforts to ensure efficiency, competitiveness and best practices in the country’s electricity sector,” he said.
Recalling that the journey towards the complete privatisation of the power sector began in 1999, the president observed that the process had been adjudged by both local and foreign investors as transparent, well organised and fair.
He said the success recorded so far in the exercise had prompted government to commence the privatisation of the generation assets of the new National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) of the Niger Delta power Holding Company of Nigeria (NDPHC), jointly owned by the three tiers of government.
The president said indeed, there had been challenges, but such challenges, he, said, were being tackled, especially the payment of severance benefits of the disengaged staff of PHCN.
“To the Nigerian people who have demonstrated such great patience and confidence, putting up often with darkness, noisy power generating sets, the related pollution and the daily disruption in their lives, I say better days are coming.
“Today, we embark on a new journey, a journey that will usher us to a destination of enduring gain and fulfillment,” he said.
He urged labour partners not to feel displaced, tasking them to, instead, dwell on the tremendous possibilities that the revitalisation of the sector would hold for them.
Jonathan expressed confidence that his administration would provide the necessary elements for private sector partners to succeed in providing Nigerians with uninterrupted power supply.
In his remarks on the occasion, Vice President Namadi Sambo, who is the chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), described the formal handing over as a new beginning, adding that it marked another major landmark in the implementation of the transformation agenda.
“Today, I am proud to say that with the support, encouragement, dogged determination and commitment of President Jonathan, we were able to pull through to this stage of the process,” he said.
Chairman of Mainstream Power, Colonel Sani Bello (retd), who spoke on behalf of the new investors, congratulated the president for overseeing the privatisation process through to a logical conclusion within a reasonable time frame.
Workers protest, lock offices
Workers of PHCN, however, staged a peaceful protest throughout the country, against an alleged non-payment of their severance benefits.
In Abuja, the entrance of the headquarters of PHCN was locked.
The zonal organising secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), while addressing newsmen, said though the union was not against the privatisation of the company, it was, however, disturbed by the decision to go ahead with the official handover of the company to the investors, without resolving all the labour related matters.
According to him, some of the agreements reached between the union and the Hassan Sunmonu-led negotiating team in July 2012 were not observed.
Iworiwa said currently, almost 40 per cent of PHCN staff had not received their severance benefits.
He appealed to the government to reconsider its steps and pay all dues to the workers.
Also, chairman of NUEE,  James Adeyemi, while speaking to the Nigerian Tribune, said the protest was just to send a signal to the government.
“We protested peacefully and would ensure that all PHCN installations be shut down all over Nigeria so that the government can come and ask us what is happening, so that you would know who is lying,” he said.
Adeyemi said only 25 per cent of the workforce had been settled, adding that “the government just paid their severance package, they have not paid the pension, they are supposed to go to Pension Fund Administrators.”
He added that “the investors that are coming cannot inherit our liabilities, because we didn’t work for them. Even if we go to any law court, we can’t win that kind of case.”
In Gombe, PHCN workers locked up the company’s offices in protest.
The workers, carrying placards with various inscriptions, said they would not allow the handover of the company to private investors until their entitlements were settled.
Addressing workers in Gombe, leader of the state NUEE, Mr Yakubu Dung, urged the Federal Government to settle the labour issues.
Also in Kano, the zonal chapter of the NUEE held a peaceful demonstration over the matter.
In a speech, the general-secretary of the union, Mr Joe Ajaero, said the demonstration was because of alleged silence on their entitlements.
Chairman of the Kano chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Malam Yunusa Danguguwa, pledges support to NUEE, saying it was determined to ensure the resolution of the stalemate with the government.
In Ilorin, Kwara State capital, placard-carrying workers locked up the PHCN offices at Challenge and Baboko business units as early as 8.00 a.m, preventing anyone from gaining entrance to the premises.
Also, many unsuspected customers who had come to pay their electricity bills could not do so.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, the vice chairman and the secretary of the union, Aderinto Adekunle and Mr Opeyemi Adeyeye respectively, said outstanding claims of the workers were yet to be paid, more than seven years after the agreement was reached on the issue between the union and the Federal Government.
The NUEE leaders also said hundreds of casual and contract staff were yet to get appointment letters that would facilitate payment of their benefits, adding that they would not allow any take over by the investors until all the benefits were paid.
They promised to ground all activities if their issues were not resolved by tomorrow, saying that 50 per cent of the workers had not received their dues against the claims of the government.
It was a similar situation in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, as PHCN locked up all their offices as early as 8.00 a.m.
From the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Ring Road, to the Dugbe branch office, the workers said they wondered why the Federal Government went ahead and handed over the company to the private investors, while their entitlements were yet to be paid.
Some of the workers, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune on condition of anonymity, posited that they were on strike and decided to lock up the offices for as long as the Federal Government was ready to pay them.
At Dugbe business unit, the man who manned the main gate informed the Nigerian Tribune that “the Federal Government had failed to fulfil its promise of paying our severance packages, pensions and gratuities. We will not allow any take-over until they pay us.”
At the Ring Road office, some members of staff were locked outside the gate.
In Lagos, workers, led by the general secretary of NUEE, Joe Ajaero, held their protest.
Offices of Eko Electricity Distribution Company and Ikeja Distribution Company were shut down completely by the workers.
Ajaero told the Nigerian Tribune that until all labour-related issues were resolved, the new owners would not have access to the privatised firms.
A visit to the Eko company by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that the workers were aggrieved because the Federal Government had only paid about 25 per cent of its workforce.
The unit chairman of NUEE, Segun Folorunsho, told journalists that the Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo and the Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki, misled the public by saying the workers had been paid.
“We are not saying they should not privatise, but they should honour the agreement with us, by settling all labour matters before new owners take control,” he stated.
PHCN offices in Lagos and Ogun states became deserted by staff, while some offices were occupied by armed policemen and soldiers, to prevent presumed protests by the PHCN staff.
At the undertaking branch at Babio, in Ota, Ogun State, it was not business as usual, as the office was deserted and void of any official activities.
Speaking with one Mr Dare Coker, members of staff embarked on strike based on the fact that a great number of them were yet to be paid off, as promised by the Federal Government.
Nigerian Tribune also gathered that those who had been paid were randomly selected, as several officials were yet to be paid as well.
It was also noticed that people who came to the office for issues such as payment of bills were referred to make payments at banks.
Soldiers take over Lagos office
The PHCN head office at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, was deserted, while the premises was occupied by armed soldiers.
Aggrieved workers of PHCN in Osogbo, Osun State capital, locked up gates of their offices in protest on Monday.
Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered that workers in three undertaking offices situated in Osogbo vowed to prevent the handing over of the company by the Federal Government to new investors, citing unpaid severance packages as major reason for their action.
During a visit to undertaking offices of the PHCN on Station Road, Oke-Fia; Osogbo Control Centre, Powerline Osogbo and Ayetoro, gates to the offices were under lock and key.
Credible sources also hinted that PHCN office in other communities such as Ede, Ikirun and Ife were locked by the workers.
Reacting to the development, the public relations officer of Osogbo PHCN business district unit, Mr Timothy Adesanya, said “the workers decided to lock up the gates to PHCN offices because they have not received their severance packages and this action would continue until the Federal Government decides to accede to their demands.”
In Jos, Plateau State, PHCN workers trooped out in their hundreds to protest the non-payment of their severance allowances.
The workers, as early as 9.00 a.m, stormed the zonal office of PHCN on Rwang Pam Street, Jos and disrupted activities at the zonal office for few hours before they were addressed by the zonal organizing secretary of NUEE, North West zone, Anthony Sule.
Speaking with newsmen, Sule said despite several negotiations and assurance, the staff were not fully paid and wondered the handover when not up to 40 per cent of the workers had been paid.
He said the union would protect the interest of its members to the end, adding that it would not allow the handing over until all the entitlements were paid.
Members of NUEE  in Ondo State protested over the handing over of PHCN to private investors.
The protest, though peaceful, was said to have been organised to express grievances of the workers over the failure of the Federal Government to pay their entitlements before the handing over.
The workers locked the gate of the PHCN district headquarters in Akure and warned private investors not to enter into any agreement with the Federal Government until their outstanding entitlements were paid.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, chairman of Akure chapter of the union, Mr Clement Daudu and the vice president, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, Mr Neke Nwanchukwu, said the union members would not resume work until their entitlements were paid to them.
Reacting to the development, Minister of Power, Professor Nebo, said the event was unfortunate.
“I think to be just, fair and equitable, they need to get severance packages, but you know that in the civil service, you cannot be severed and be able to retain a pensionable job, so we need to work out the legal ramifications of paying off their severance package,” he said.
The minister said it was not easy to have about N100 million paid easily by any bank, adding that “it would cause a run on the bank, so we have been doing all the due diligence to take care of the problem.”
More jobs for Nigerians at power stations —Okonjo-Iweala
Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said more jobs would be created for Nigerians from the Zungeru Hydro-Electric Power Project.
Apart from adding 700 megawatts to the national grid, she said the Zungeru Power Project would also create thousands of jobs for Nigerian engineers, technicians and artisans during the construction phase, while it would also boost the local economy in Zungeru as well as its environs.
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