Managers,
N38m;
Assistant
General
Managers, N28m;
junior
staff
(WASC
holders),
N8m and
above
•Their
unions are outlaws - FG FOLLOWING the confrontation between the
Federal Government and workers of the Power Holding Company
of Nigeria (PHCN) over severance pay, the Federal Government, on
Monday, described the workers as outlaws who were bent on getting what
did not belong to them. This is coming as it was revealed that the
lowest cadre staff of the company could get as much as N8 million
severance pay while the highest cadre staff could take home about N38
million upon disengagment from the company. This is according to the
Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji, who was at the State House,
Abuja, on Monday in continuation of the ministerial briefing of
President Goodluck Jonathan on the performance of the 2012 budget and
the outlook for 2013. Fielding questions from State House
correspondents after the meeting with the president, Professor Nnaji
disclosed that the ministry had so far received about N21.5 billion of
its capital budget of N75.4 billion out of which it had used N11.4
billion, representing 52.9 per cent. Professor Nnaji, while
dismissing claims that government was planning to pay outgoing PHCN
staff the sum of N85,000 across board, noted that too much falsehood
had been peddled about government's position on the matter. He accused
the workers' union of deliberately distorting facts over their
entitlements, promising to make all the facts available to the public
by next week. His words: "That has to do with how much they are going
to take. They say it is N85,000. I cannot understand how they could
say that. Many of the people who are junior officers, some of them
with WASC qualification are going to go home with N8 million. "We just
do not want to publish tally sheet. Somebody who is in the position of
an Assistant General Manager, could
go home with N28 million. What we are saying is that there is a range.
"The highest officer could go home with N38 mllion. So, anybody who is
telling you N85,000 has a different mission." The minister explained
the area of disagreement with the workers, saying it was an attempt to
bring about violation of existing laws. He blamed the union for
deducting money from workers' salaries on the pretext of paying it
into their retirement account but which it never did. According to
him, "the area of difference is the following: the union wants to be
paid 25 per cent of the benefit at the point of severance. That was an
old policy before the 2004 Pension Reform Act. After the Act, they
carried on with the 25 per cent. They collected this money without
remitting the money into the account.
It was just written on paper. "So, the workers had nothing in their
account. That is something we have now set up a panel to investigate
and we have set up a panel headed by a former Auditor-General of the
Federation. "It amounts to fraud to have that kind of thing going on.
"What government has decided to do is
that since no money was paid into the account from 2004 to June this
year, government will pay what is in the law. Government will pay its
own component, that is the PHCN component of it. "Workers were
supposed to contribute 7.5 per cent and PHCN 7.5 per cent but since
PHCN did not pay, government will pay it. This makes 15 per cent. But
the union is saying that they would like government to pay 25 per
cent. "Every worker out there, be it private or public, follows the
Pension Act and how on earth would you say you do not want to obey the
law of this nation? That is the threat. "We have said let us give you
the tally sheet. They said no. Meanwhile, they go and talk about
N85,000. This is a country of rules but they went and attacked an
official of PHCN, dragged her out and stripped her because the woman
holds the position of Acting General Manager (Human Resources).
"Unions do not act this way. PHCN unions are constituting themselves
into outlaws. It is not right," he declared. On the 2012 budget, the
minister recalled that the sum of N75.5 billion was initially budgeted
while the National Assembly raised it to N78 billion to accommodate
constituency projects. He explained that out of the N75.4 billion
budgeted for capital project, N21.5 billion had been released and
N11.4 billion had so far been expended, representing 52.9 per cent. On
the 2013 plan, he said government had the objective of ensuring the
holistic implementation of the provision of the Electricity Power
Reform Act of 2005 and prioritise completion of ongoing projects.
Explaining that the measure was critical to the Transmission Company
of Nigeria (TCN), he remarked that there were 156 ongoing projects
which still required huge amount of money to implement. According to
him, "we will simply concentrate on prioritising them so that we can
complete the projects." He further said that government was intent on
stabilising the national grid and was working towards developing
regulatory framework, establishment of gas and power infrastructure
bond and fund as well as exploring renewable sources of energy. He
noted that this was necessary because "we want to begin the transition
to private sector participation in power so that it is not only the
government that will be funding power." Meanwhile, members of the
National Union of Electricity Employees in Jebba Hydro Electric Plc
embarked on a protest on Monday. Speaking with journalists, the
chairman, Generation and Transmission, Shiroro/Kainji, Comrade Abiodun
Balogun, said government deceived the workers that they have paid
certain monies to them. "All they said in papers are just propaganda.
There is nobody in PHCN that is aganst privatisation but our
entitlements should be paid. "We want the government to know that if
they do not follow due process, by consulting with the labour leaders,
we won't concede and we are not going to guarantee peace in this
place. "People have worked 20 and 35 years and you want to remove them
without paying them their entitlements. We won't accept this. For the
past 14 months, PHCN national leaders have been negotiating with the
government
without any meaningful result. "We are not trying to frustrate the
efforts of the government to ensure uninterrupted power supply to
Nigerians. In fact, we are committed to ensuring better power supply
to Nigerians. The truth is there to see. The workers are always on
duty. Even now that there's a call on some members to come out for
strike, there is still electricity supply. It is not true that the
workers are frustrating government's efforts. Government is not honest
by telling Nigerians the truth of what is happening in the power
sector. We are interested in seeing Nigerians enjoy more power supply.
We cannot do anything that will jeorpardise government's efforts.
"What we are asking is that we should be given the right pay for the
job that we have done for the company. "We are calling on Nigerians to
listen to our cry and at the same time, calling
on the government. Let the minister tell Nigerians the true position
in the power sector. Let him not deceive Nigerians. "They have
deceived most Nigerians that they have paid certain monies to us and
that we are still protesting. It is
not so. All they said in papers are just propaganda." Also speaking,
the branch chairman, NUEE, Jebba Hydro Electric Plc, Mr Tony Ofuokwu,
said: "We are not against privatisation of PHCN. We are
in support of it, but just as we are leaving, government should give
us our entitlements. "The 25 per cent they deducted from our salaries
should be stopped. They should even pay us back what they deducted.
Few CEOs deducted it and they said they are paying it into Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account. So which account is that? "We are
entitled to choose an administrator for our pension and somebody is
making imposition on us." The general secretary, Senior Staff
Association of the union, M. Alaya Muftau, also said "we are not
saying that government should not privatise PHCN. "We are stakeholders
in the industry. We believe that the best should be given to Nigerians
and that is why we are working hard to sustain these plants. "All over
Nigeria, the power plants are being maintained by Nigerians. We have
been doing that. "There is no single expatriate that has been
maintaining these plants here for years. Ours is about 25 years old
and we are sustaining all the units. We are all Nigerians and we are
sustaining the plants. "This means that people are committed to making
sure that electricity is available to Nigerians. "What we want
Nigerians to know is that we want government to equally treat us well.
We should not just be neglected and relegated," he said.
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