Nov 1 handing over: PHCN workers embark on strike

FOLLOWING the 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.”
Expatiating, Yunus Ustaz Usman (SAN), who is the chairman NCP Legal Committee, said  the council decided to grant an extension of time having studied the provisions of the law guiding the privatisation process which, he said, allowed for waiver.
According to him, “Eurafric  was the highest bidder and the reserved bidder bid only $106 million.  Eurafric had paid about $180 million, but it could not pay before the expiration of the time fixed for it. So, the problem was brought to us to advise the NCP as to whether we should extend the time or give it to the reserved bidder.
“We looked at all the clauses in the agreement and came to the conclusion that there are clauses for waiver that say that the NCP, that is the Federal Government, can extend the time when the highest bidder fails to pay within time.
“We also considered this issue that the highest bidder bid $201 million, the reserved bidder bid $106 million. The highest bidder has paid about $180 million. Our legal standpoint, since we have the right to extend at any time and  since the highest bidder has paid about $180 million, then it is safer and in the interest of the public to so extend.
“His Excellency, the Vice-President, graciously said since these monies  are meant for Nigerians, so, you cannot take $106 million that has not been paid and say you are foregoing $180 million. NCP graciously agreed and that is the position where we are.”
Noting that he did not expect the NCP’s decision to be challenged in court, he was confident that even if the council was dragged before the court, there was no guarantee that the litigant would win the case.
He said: “Everybody has the right to go to court, but winning is a different thing. How do you explain to Nigerians that somebody has paid you $180 million and you reject it?”  He added that the NCP had not set a bad precedence by granting such an extension of time.
List of companies handed over
The successor companies expected to be handed over to the new investors include Abuja Distribution Company (owned by KANN Consortium Utility), Benin Distribution Company (Vigeo Power Consortium), Eko Distribution Company (West Power & Gas), Enugu Distribution Company (Interstate Electrics Ltd) and Ibadan Distribution Company (Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Limited).
Others are Ikeja Distribution Company (NEDC/KEPCO Consortium), Jos Distribution Company (Aura Energy Limited), Kano Distribution Company (Sahelian Power SPV Limited), Port Harcourt Distribution Company (4 Power Consortium) and Yola Distribution Company (Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Limited).
The generation companies expected to be handed over are Shiroro (owned by North-South Power Company), Kainji (Mainstream Energy Solutions Ltd), Geregu (Amperion Power Distribution) and Ughelli (Transcorp Ughelli Power Plc).
The Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), Mr Benjamin Ezra Dikki, had stated that “this handing over is a culmination of 14 years of painstaking effort by the NCP, BPE and other key stakeholders to reform and liberalise Nigeria’s electricity industry, which began in 1999.”
The Federal Government had earlier disclosed that it had paid a total of N214. 22 billion to 40,093 out of the workers as severance allowance.
A press statement by the BPE, which was signed by its spokesman, Chigbo Anichebe, said the Sapele Generation Company (SGC) would not be affected by the exercise, since the NCP had directed its legal committee to undertake a comprehensive legal review of the status of the company following the failure to complete payment by the preferred bidder.
So far, out of the 14 successor companies scheduled for hand over, a total of US$2,525,824,534 was realised as proceeds. Out of the amount, US$1,256,000,000.00 came from the Distribution Companies (DISCOs), while the Generation Companies (GENCOs) raked in US$1,269,824,534.
The Federal Government has equally set aside the entire proceed of N384 billion from the transaction to settle labour liabilities.
The BPE said it had despatched a team of consultants and its staff for the biometric data capture of 1,478 employees of the Enugu Distribution Company who could not be audited because of virus attack on the system where their names were stored.
In his reaction, the President of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) said: “We do not intend to throw our nation into darkness, it would only happen as a last resort, when the government would not agree to our terms.”
Meanwhile, handing over ceremony of PHCN to the new private investors will take place at Premier Hotel, Ibadan, today.
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