FG begins full payment to 38,000PHCN workers

The full payment of entitlements to 38,000 workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, has commenced. The Director General the Bureau of Public Enterprise, BPE, Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki, disclosed this during the visit of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation to the agency. Dikki explained that some 6,700 staff that had issues during verification are being sorted out, while another 2,500 casual staff were expected to be regularised by the PHCN management before the payment of their entitlements On the power transaction, the BPE boss informed the lawmakers that the Bureau had received full payment for 14 power generation and distribution companies from the core investors. He further informed the lawmakers that the Bureau was in the process of constituting a Privatisation Tribunal to handle privatisation cases expeditiously, adding that the Tribunal will also assist the Bureau in enforcing privatisation contracts. In her remarks, the Chairperson of the House Committee, Hon. Khadijat Bukar Abba-Ibrahim, commended the giant strides made by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, in the power sector reform and privatisation which has seen the successful handover of 14 generation and distribution companies to the core investors. Abba-Ibrahim, who led members of the committee on an oversight visit to the Bureau, appealed to the agency and the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, to at all times, “Operate in strict compliance with the Public Enterprises Privatisation and Commercialisation Act of 1999.” She also urged the Bureau to strictly follow the laid down guidelines as approved by the NCP in all its transactions for transparency and credibility. The Chairperson said deliberations with the BPE management were exciting, and had helped bridge the communication gap between the Bureau and the Committee, stressing that the members were now better informed on the activities of the BPE. Abba-Ibrahim called for regular interactions between the Bureau and the Committee “as communication gap often breeds mistrust and misunderstanding”.