The alleged missing N200 billion pension fund in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has stirred a fresh crisis over the planned privatisation of the organisation by the Federal Government.

Besides, PHCN workers perceived the privatisation issue as a hurried plan by the government to achieve an alleged hidden agenda, 

following a revelation that PHCN’s total assets worth N1.5trillion were being undervalued at N200billion.

Labour unions in the sector: National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Company (SSAEAC), had given the government the agreement reached with the unions at previous negotiations as the precondition for the privatisation exercise.

The Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji, recently set up an eight-man committee to investigate the status of pension in the power sector, following some issues arising from negotiations with the workers.

He said, “PHCN pensions have not been operated in line with the Pensions Reform Act of 2004, and for some reasons PHCN workers want to follow the scheme which is against the law.”

Nnaji explained that the existing scheme was unacceptable to government as it contravened the 2004 Pension Reform Act and insisted that with effect from July 1, 2012, PHCN must operate its pension scheme in line with the 2004 Pension Reform Act.

The President of SSAEAC, Bede Opara, who also opposed the proposed merger of gratuity and pension to be paid as severance in line with the new pension reform act, insisted that the ‘government should pay the gratuities as end of service benefits in line with the stipulations of condition of service which PHCN operates with its workers before now.

“The government must pay appreciable severance package, as it is the practice all over the world. It must pay workers’ pensions in accordance with the 25 per cent set aside from the salaries of PHCN staff for the settlement of all workers’ benefit in continuation of the practice in PHCN in the past years,”  he added.

While cautioning the government against forcing the workers to open a Retirement Savings Account (RSA) when the payment of workers’ benefits had not been concluded, accused it of misplaced priorities.

“The same government that has enough money to mount media campaign and attack on the unions at the onset of its programme is now claiming that it has no money to pay our benefits thereby attempting to shortchange us on our entire request,” he alleged.

The General Secretary of NUEE, Joe Ajaero told Saturday Tribune, on Friday, that the government should have no difficulty paying the workers, as “PHCN is not a sector where workers queue to collect their pay.”

Ajaero explained that the 14-month negotiation with the government ended without the parties resolving  such critical issues as severance payment, gratuity and pensions, because it claimed it had no money to pay the workers.

“The building assets, transformers, transmission cable lines, cars and poles nationwide are now valued at about N200billion, though the government claimed the company’s liability is N400billion, but when put together as total assets, PHCN is worth N1.5trillion,” he said.

Ajaero said the new tariff regime in the power sector had jacked up the monthly revenue of PHCN from over N18billion to N25billion a month to give the purported buyers safe landing to acquiring the assets.

Ajaero, however called on the government to sell the organisation to the workers for N200billion, as being proposed to other investors, stressing that the superannuation fund of 25 per cent deducted from workers as pensions and gratuity in PHCN, stood at N400billion in June 2010, but which the government had not accounted for.

According to him, the more than 50,000 workers should be allowed to use the money in acquiring PHCN and the balance paid back to them.

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