GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER FRESH SQUABBLES THREATEN TAKEOVER OF POWER PLANTS • As PHCN Workers Warn Of Showdown • Demand N400 billion Pay-off, Urgent Promotion, Others • Sale Of Power Plants To Generate $2.6 billon The October handover date for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s (PHCN) power plants, as proposed by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), may be in jeopardy following new and “urgent” demands by the workers. The electricity employees, Saturday, threatened industrial unrest should the Federal Government fail to meet all of their demands in the July 8, 2013 letter addressed to the Ministry of Power. The ultimatum will expire early this week, according to the Secretary-General of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE),Joe Ajuero. Almost done with the transmission component, the unbundling of the PHCN is now approaching a crucial final phase during which 5 Power Generation companies (GENCOS) and 10 Distribution companies (DISCOS) will be sold to private investors, who are expected to bring in $2.6 billion (about N408 billion) to the Federal Government coffers, according to the BPE. The BPE had already asked the successful bidders, all of whom had paid 25 percent of the individual bid prices, to offset the remaining 75 percent on, or before, September 21, after which unspecified penalties will be meted out to defaulters. Managers of the process had indicated that “all Labour issues” relating to the privatisation process have been resolved. Notwithstandinga deal struck in December last year — and fine-tuned in June this year —PHCN workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE),on July 8, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Ministry of Power to effect double promotion for staff and pay balance of one year entitlement that were not part of the original discussion. Ajuero also hinted that government — even though it is selling PHCN and its facilities at a ‘give-away’ price - will be paying about N400 billion in gratuities, pensions, and other benefits to some 50,000 employees. The Guardian reliably gathered that consultations are being made by Ministries and other relevant agencies to avert any major power crisis that could emanate from apossible showdown with electricity workers. APC REGISTRATION: PARTY LEADERS MAY STORMINEC OFFICE MONDAY Even as leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) plan to storm the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Monday, the electoral body, Saturday, said it is not under pressure to register the merger party. INEC’s chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said this while reacting to speculation that the registration of APC has run into troubled waters as INEC keeps “shifting the goal post” in a desperate bid to abort its registration. Jega, who spoke to The Guardian through his media aide, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said there is no iota of truth in the allegation. He noted: “That allegation is not new, is it? It is as old as daylight. The process is on; we have always said that the process is on.” Asked whether INEC is actually at the verge of directing the chieftains of the proposed merger party to consider changing its name, he said: “I am not aware of that.” On whether the party is deemed to have beenregistered, he said: “The fact is that there wasa request for registration and INEC has been in touch with them. So, the process is ongoing. The party can’t be deemed to have been registered. The process is on.” APC’s request for merger dated June 5, 2013, was followed up with a letter from INEC on June 12 requesting for, among others, 35 copies of the APC’s Constitution and manifesto. The APC responded on July 1 with the requested documents. Chieftains of the APC claim that, going by the provisions of the Electoral Act, the party is now formally registered. They cited Section 4 of the Electoral Act that states: “On receipt of the request for merger of the political parties, the Commission shall consider the request and if the parties have fulfilled the requirements of the Commission and this Act, approve the proposed merger and communicate its decision to the parties concerned before the expiration of 30 days from the date of the receipt of the formal request…” A chieftain of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Alhaji Farouk Adamu, Aliyu, said he was privy to information urging promoters to consider a change of acronym. He disclosed that some leaders of the proposed APC have been mobilised to storm the premises of INEC tomorrow to ascertain the veracity of suggestion that the acronym should be changed. It has been alleged that some staff of INEC believed to be card-carrying members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have come under pressure to stop the registration of APC.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 07:10:14 +0000
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