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Labour Tags Power Assets Sale as ‘Rape on Nigeria’ as FG Projects N400 billion Sale Proceeds

By on October 23, 2012

PHCN Employees Protest

Industrial workers have tagged the sale of PHCN assets for about N200billion as a “supreme damage” to Nigeria. They claimed that the assets are worth over N3trillion which is far over and above the sum of N400 billion projected to be realized by Chairman of the Technical Committee of the National Council of Privatization, Mr. Atedo Peterside.
The workers made this disclosure after the rejection of the bid by four southern state governors and the results announced by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, for the Benin Electricity Distribution Company

 

During a media briefing in Lagos the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, said before the increase in tariff, PHCN was making in excess of N20billion monthly and with the increase, the revenue profile had gone up to N300billion yearly.

 

“The PHCN assets were never valued before the ongoing privatisation process,” this was the position of the President and General Secretary of NUEE, Comrades Mansur Musa, and Joe Ajaero, they said, the whole practice was to hand PHCN over to some privileged few in government and their fronts.

 

They said, the objection of the process by some Nigerians especially that of the state governors only confirms their long-standing position on the mater.

 

The union, faulted the governors complain that they were left out, wondering why it would be convenient for state governors to run power stations, but not the Federal Government, when all has been said and done. The Government should have no business in doing business.

Adding, the union decried the sale of the nation’s transmissions company to Manotoba, which is owned by a municipal government in Canada. They said the sale was not only a rape on Nigeria, but also a bastard economy.

 

According to Ajaero, after the process Nigerians who had criticized the union’s position would see the treachery and fraud in the whole exercise. In another development, the union promised that they would not compromise the entitlements of workers put at N500billion, even if the government decides to give away PHCN.

 

Ajaero declared that, the union can never be intimidated, not even by military force or the stationing of armed officers. He promised that no successful bidder would take over any PHCN asset without the settlement of workers benefits.

 

Faulting the sale, the NUEE scribe revealed that even the PHCN car park in Marina alone under the Eko Electricity Distribution Company, and the office in Marina, Lagos, were enough to produce the N200billion. “We have over 20 offices, over 1000 transformers; we are not talking about the building and the land,” he said.

 

“This is daylight fraud. The issue is that there was no valuation of the PHCN assets before this fraud. There was an agreement that when they are going to do valuation, we will also bring our independent values to work alongside government’s. However, this was never done. Nigerians should ask who did the valuation and when? Only a prodigal child will sell his father’s house where he has been collecting N300billion annually for N200billion.”

 

“We all know the worth of PHCN. If PHCN was making over N25billion monthly, why do they want to sell it off as scrap? There is no doubt this sale is bound to fail.”