PHCN terminal benefits: committee releases additional 1,037 names

(Report from Ministry of Power, Abuja)-  The implementation committee on payment of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), terminal benefits domiciled with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has released another set of names that will be verified for payments.

 

The Committee on Wednesday, 28th January, 2015, released the list of 1,037 staff categorized as Active Staff of PHCN, and are billed to be verified at nine (9) designated centers across the country, beginning from 2nd February, to 11th February, 2015.

 

The Ambassador (Dr.) Godknows Igali’s Committee has also drawn out verification check lists for PHCN retirees, next-of-kins and severance which was published in The Guardian of Tuesday, 27 January 2015.  The check-list for the three (3) categories of persons to be verified, listed out documents to be presented by all beneficiaries at the nine designated payment centers While speaking to newsmen on the heels of the threat to public property by aggrieved union members and ex-workers of PHCN, the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Power, Professor Chidi Onyia said that Nigerians deserve to have adequate information in order to have informed position of the issues involved.

 

He said, Mr. President has demonstrated a clear understanding of the nation’s labour law which informed his directives to the handlers of severance package to be diligent in the validation processes adding that Government does not want to pay ghost workers but only the right people.

 

He disclosed that so far, a whopping N372 Billion has already been paid out to disengaged PHCN workers, stressing that Government has always treated its workers with utmost dignity and respect.

 

Furthermore, he debunked the assertion that Government has remained insensitive to the plight of the disengaged PHCN workers, saying that the Minister has directed that all issues pertaining to this must be resolved on time.

 

He debunked the insinuation that this position has something to do with the forth coming general election, just as he reiterated that the Minister of Power is desirous of building harmonious labour relationship for the entire power sector, assuring that the core or residual staff in the sector would be paid as at when due.

 

It would be recalled that with the privatization of the Generation and Distribution sub-sectors, a total of 47,000 disengaged workers of the defunct PHCN are on the list of persons to be paid by the BPE.

 

Professor Onyia said that record shows that 45,000 persons have been paid, with another 1,669 and 1,037 awaiting verification.  Thus, it remains less than 500 workers who are yet to be verified.