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Workers’ compensation gulped PHCN sales proceeds — BPE

By BusinessNews Staff on April 2, 2015

All the money realised by the Federal Government from the sale of the 17 successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria was expended on the entitlements of the workers of the defunct monopoly, the Bureau of Public Enterprises said on Tuesday.

The Director-General, BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, said this on a radio programme, according to a statement issued by the Head of Public Communications at the privatisation agency, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe, in Abuja on Tuesday.

Dikki was quoted as saying, “The management of labour issues in the power sector was more challenging but President Goodluck Jonathan directed and insisted that every one of the over 47,913 workers of the PHCN must receive every kobo of his or her entitlements.

“As a result, all the proceeds from the sale of the unbundled companies of the defunct state monopoly were expended on the settlement of workers’ entitlements across the country.”

He observed that reforms in the various sectors of the economy had generated employment as most of the privatised companies like WAPCO, Oando and the banking sector have through local and international expansion created millions of jobs, emphasising that privatisation was creating jobs.

The BPE boss said managing the various stakeholders was one of the greatest challenge to the reform and privatisation programme of the Federal Government.

He identified the various stakeholders in the reform and privatisation programme as labour unions, players in the different sectors, prospective investors, consultants/advisors and those he called ideologues.

According to him, to have a credible and successful transaction, skilful management of the various stakeholders is required.

Dikki noted that the power sector reform and privatisation was acclaimed to be good because of the high degree of transparency, which stakeholders observed and led to the absence of any controversy about the outcomes.

Dikki said in the last 16 years, the defunct PHCN could not employ engineers whereas the new distribution and generation companies had employed 2,022 engineers within a space of one year.

The BPE boss said the transformation agenda of the current administration had started to yield results as about six automobile companies, including Nissan, Volkswagen and Hyundai had returned to the country as a result of the investment-friendly industrial revolution policy.

He noted that past administrations could not muster the political will to enunciate policies that would encourage investment in the automobile industry, resulting in many of the companies like Steyr and Volkswagen relocating from Nigeria due to the inability of successive administrations to protect the local assembly plants.

Dikki said the cardinal objective of the government should be to provide an enabling environment for private sector investors to invest in such areas as roads and railways as it was the practice in developed economies.

[Punch]

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