BPE pays N373 billion to electricity workers

DIRECTOR General of the Bureau of Public

enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Ezra Dikki has

informed members of the National Union of

Electricity Employees of Nigeria (NUEE) that

46,744 out of the 47,913 bonafide staff,

representing 98 per cent of the workforce of the

defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)

have so far been paid their entitlements amounting

to N373 bilion.

Addressing members of the Union led by its

National President, Comrade Mansur Musa who

came to the Bureau’s office in Abuja last week to

protest the non-payment of severance benefits to

some of their members, Dikki said that only 1,169

of the 47,913 workers of the defunct PHCN were

yet to be paid.

He said the outstanding number included workers

that had exited before the severance payment

commenced; those being processed for validation;

and those yet to be identified by PHCN as

bonafide workers and thus not verified.

He disclosed that t 2,791 retired staff of the

PHCN representing 65 per cent of the retirees had

been paid N16. 4 billion with an outstanding number

of 1,516 retirees.

According to him the number is made up of those

who have so far failed to turn up for verification;

were still undergoing further verification and the

next of kin of deceased staff that have so far not

been able to produce the letters of

administration..

Dikki said for the active staff the number of

beneficiaries was processed in 30 batches while for

the retirees, it was in 11 batches.

He appealed to the over 1,000 ex-workers of the

PHCN that had not presented themselves for

verification to come forward for the exercise as

the government would not pay any one that had

not been verified.

On the Next of Kin (NOKs) of the deceased staff

of the PHCN, the DG urged the union officials to

assist those who were yet to get the appropriate

court papers for payment, to obtain them for a

seamless processing of their entitlements.

He told the union members that many government

agencies were involved in the payment of their

entitlements which required such agencies applying

their processes in executing the task. He therefore

appealed for understanding from them.

Dikki assured the union that to quicken the

payment to those who were yet to benefit, a

committee between the union and BPE would be set

up to sort out the issues.

Earlier, National President of NUEE, Comrade

Mansur Musa had decried the non-payment of the

severance benefits to some of the members which

had brought untold hardship to them.