President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday presented share certificates and licenses to the 14 new core owners of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies.
During the presentation, the president was full of enthusiasm for better days ahead in the power sector, on the heels of his privatisation programme, which he described as the most transparent in the history of privatisation in the country.
He assured that his government would continue working to overcome the knotty issues of payment of severance allowances and payment of emoluments to the PHCN staff. However, he urged organised labour to shun demonstration, saying the decision to privatise PHCN is in the interest of Nigerians.
The president’s plea notwithstanding, the workers under the National Union of Electricity Employees of Nigeria have already begun a warning protest against the planned handover of the privatised assets of PHCN to investors.
At one of the protests in Abuja, the workers agitated for the payment of their severance and entitlements before the planned handover, and warned investors to avoid power installations until their demands have been meet.
Earlier on Friday, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali linked the delay in payment of the entitlements of disengaged staff with the determination to avoid errors in the payment process.
“There will be no physical handover until the end of this year. We are starting with handing over of the documents, the protocol ceremony for Mr. President to preside over after which, we have one month to undertake cropping issues, for example labour,” he had said.
“We are making very good progress to ensure that all workers are paid. When you are dealing with paying accounts of workers, about 40,000 people, you have to be careful because it is not something you rush into.”
