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”.
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