FG has commenced full payment to 38,000 PHCN workers

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• Payment of Entitlements to 38,000 Workers of PHCN has commenced

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IN ABUJA – The full payment of entitlements to 38,000 workers of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, has commenced.

Director General,  Bureau of Public Enterprise, BPE, Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki disclosed this during the visit of House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation to the agency.

Mr. Dikki explained that 6,700 staff that had issues during verification were being sorted out, while 2,500 casual staff were expected to be regularised by the PHCN management before 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.

Mr. Dikki further informed the lawmakers that the Bureau was in the process of constituting a Privatisation Tribunal to handle privatisation cases expeditiously.

He said the Tribunal will also assist the Bureau in enforcing privatisation contracts.

In her remarks, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, 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 core investors.

Hon. Abba-Ibrahim who led members of the committee on an oversight visit to the Bureau appealed to the Bureau 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 Chairman said deliberations with the BPE management during the visit were exciting and had helped bridged the communication gap between the Bureau and the Committee, stressing that the committee members were now better informed on the activities of BPE.

Abba-Ibrahim called for regular interactions between the Bureau and the Committees “as communication gap often breeds mistrust and misunderstanding”.