The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PHCN

  • PHCN loses equipment to vandals

    The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has lost equipment worth millions of naira to theft and vandalism, less than two months to the January 2014 deadline for the power generation and distribution companies to start operation.

    The Nation learnt that materials, such as cables and wires, among others, had either been stolen or vandalised within the Lagos metropolis, with the recent one taking place in Ilupeju area of Lagos State.

    The Business Manager, Ikeja Unit of PHCN, Lateef Olaleye, said equipment such as 300KVA and 500KVA were vandalised in Ikeja.

    He said: “Vandalism of PHCN installations, especially in the Government Reserved Area (GRA) Ikeja, has become a problem. Within the past four months, the unit has recorded further acts of vandalism of nine transformer substations – Oba Akinjobi 300KVA substation was vandalised thrice in March, April and May this year, while Remi Fani-Kayode 500KVA substation was vandalised on April 8, this year. After the vandalised materials were replaced, the vandals came again two days later on April 10 and stole all the replaced cables and other substation materials. And on the second of this month, they stole virtually all the materials in this same substation, including 20 metres of 150mm2x4 single core cable.”

    Olaleye said another theft was recorded on March 7 at the Ladoke Akintola 500KVA substation, where the thieves carted away eight metres of 150mm2x4 core cable, cable sockets and ferrules.

    It would be recalled that the NERC is working out modalities on how to penalise people who vandalise and steal appliances belonging to the PHCN. The Commission’s Secretary, Ada Ozomenan said the body is coming out with strong penalties for people who steal or vandalise cables, meters, among other appliances.

    She said the Commission has stepped up monitoring activities in order to check cases of theft and vandalism in various power projects in the country.

  • Ex-PHCN worker spends N5.5m gratuity on jeep

    Ex-PHCN worker spends N5.5m gratuity on jeep

    A FORMER Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) staff member has spent N5.5million of his N6million severance pay on the purchase of a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), The Nation can reveal.

    The ex-PHCN’s staff, who is in his late 50s, bought the brand new car a few days after collecting his pay.

    “He is a middle-aged man, without a house. He is still struggling and has nothing to show for his over 20 years’ service in the state-owned electricity company,” his colleagues, who were shocked at his behaviour, said.

    “We, his colleagues, were shocked by the development because we expected him to plan with the money, knowing full well that he would not be absorbed by any of the 14 companies that bought the assets of PHCN,’ his colleagues said.’

    They said it took the intervention of their District Manager and some senior staff to convince the man to sell the car.

    At the end of the day, “we succeeded in helping him to resell the jeep for over N5million, and the money was handed over to him and advised him to invest it”, the they added.

  • Severance pay: Electricity workers vow to scuttle PHCN’s handover

    The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) has said it would scuttle any attempt by the Federal Government and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to handover Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s (PHCN) facilities to any investor next week, if all labour issues were not settled in line with the agreement reached with the workers.

    SSAEAC, in a statement by its President, Comrade Bede Opara, urged the government to act fast, else no one should blame the unions for any action taken.

    The statement reads in part: “We state here that in our meeting with the Chairman, Implementation Committee, Permanent Secretary, Federal Minister of Power, two weeks ago, it was agreed that the payment of terminal benefits of PHCN staff entitlements would be concluded in two weeks.

    “However, we note that up to this moment, only a handful of payments have been made and what we heard or read in the newspapers is that the government intends to hand over the PHCN infrastructure to the investors on November 1, 2013.”

    According to him, this will negate and violate the understanding and agreement reached with the unions, adding that the workers would resist any move until all payments were concluded.

    He said: “In Benin, 50 per cent of the workers are not paid yet and in Jos 55 per cent are not paid yet while in Sapele, 77 per cent of the workers are not paid.

    “From available records, 60 per cent of the workers in Egbin are not paid, 60 per cent of workers in Ughelli are not paid, 67 per cent of the workers in Afam are not paid and 100 per cent of the workers in Kaduna, Abuja and Jebba are yet to collect their payment.

    “Also, none of the workers in transmission has been paid while their RSA entitlements not paid to anyone.”

    He said the government had made workers believe that the money needed was available while the leadership of labour also got the assurance of the Accountant-General of the Federation that money was available to be paid the workers.

  • ‘PHCN workers must embrace change’

    Workers of the privatised Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have been advised to embrace change in order to remain relevant in the sector, Executive Director (Market Operations) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mrs. Vera Osuhor, has said.

    Mrs Osuhor, a former Managing Director of the Jos Electricity Distributing Company (JEDC), spoke at a send off party organised for her by the management and workers of JEDC.

    She said the reforms, which culminated in the sale of PHCN, would create excellent job and professional growth opportunities. She advised workers to maximise the advantages.

    “I will particularly advise you to clean up your CVs because the new owners would be poaching the best hands from everywhere.

    “There is no other personnel available to handle the jobs outside you; so you must be ready to work in a more challenging environments,’’ she said.

    Mrs Osuhor said engineers were best placed to explore the opportunities in the emerging power sector.

    “For engineers, life has just begun. The new owners will look for you as they compete for the best hands to offer the best services in the competitive power sector.

    “But I will advise that you also earn some more management skills and techniques because you will be expected to handle a lot of modern situations,’’ she said.

    She assured workers yet to be paid their severance packages to be patient as their accounts would be credited this week.

    “Payment has resumed again; the second and last phases will soon be completed,’’ she said.

    She identified security as her greatest challenge.

    “All the four states served by the JEDC – Plateau, Benue, Bauchi and Gombe – were crises-ridden.

    “ Providing electricity, repairing faults and collecting revenue in such war zones proved to be tough, but we were able to do much,’’ she said.

    Mrs Osuhor, who attributed her successes to team work, consistent training and effective monitoring, advised her successor to sustain the momentum.

    Mr Fidelis Obishai, who took over from Osuhor, commended her for her achievements, saying her elevation was well deserved.

  • Disengaged PHCN workers threaten blackout over severance pay

    Disengaged PHCN workers threaten blackout over severance pay

    Electricity workers under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), have threatened blackout the entire country if the Federal Government fails to settle their entitlements.

    NUEE General Secretary, Comrade Joe Ajaero, who this in Jos yesterday, said the union has uncovered a plot by the government to use the military to eject its members from office, warning that “any station the Federal Government moves in with force, without settling labour issues, should be shutdown.

    “We have been patient enough and we cannot continue to be patient while they are driving us to the grave. I am saying that enough of this provocation,” stressing that no amount of “military presence will make us to abandon our entitlement, because it is not by power or might. We are not going to get there with gun or knife, but the soldiers will be there and there will be darkness in this country.

    “They have even written letters, when they come with those military men. Unfortunately, those signing those letters are not the people that employed you; I told them that one has legal implication.”

    Ajaero said that PHCN staff were yet to receive their pension component, saying it was unfortunate that the public is being misinformed that PHCN staff have been paid about N400billion entitlements they are being owed.

    Ajaero, who is also the Deputy National President of Nigeria Labour Congress said, the government spent $11billion in constructing the power plants and $16billion was spent on the same power plants during the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, but unfortunately the power plants were sold for $3billion.

    Also speaking the Secretary of NUEE North-East zone, Anthony Sule, said, “As I speak to you, I cover North-East zone, no worker in both Jos Zonal Office and Jos Business Unit has been paid, incidentally Jos Business Unit is about the largest in this zone, all the other business units of Benue, Gombe and Bauchi there are still pockets of payments left undone.

  • Lagos to set up electricity metre manufacturing line

    Lagos to set up electricity metre manufacturing line

    Unavailability of electricity metres which has become a major headache of majority of electricity consumers may soon be a thing of the past in Lagos State following the plan by the state government to set up a metre manufacturing line.

    Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), who made the disclosure on Thursday, during the inauguration of the newly built 10.4MW Alausa Power Plant located within the state secretariat in Ikeja, said the proposed meter assembly line was part of the ongoing efforts by the state government to address all the problems associated with efficient power supply to the residents of the state.

    He stated that the meter assembly has become necessary in order to alleviate the hardship residents faced in the process of acquiring electricity meters while adding that continued production and conservation were very critical factors to ensure the people get basic utilities like water and electricity optimally.

    “We already have a transformer manufacturing plant (El-Sewedy Electric in Badagry) and so we are going ahead to ensure that when the power is ultimately here the components to bring it to peoples’ homes will be available. What we hear before is that well, there is generation but there is no gas, so we don’t what to get to that when the talk would be there is electricity but there is no transformers. So, we are already ahead of the curve and that factory will also be manufacturing meters in the plant”, he said.

    The governor also said that with the new power plant, government institutions comprising 62 buildings, 156 departments and over 4000 offices hitherto connected to the public electric power supply from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), would now move to the power being generated from the new facility and enjoy 24-hour uninterrupted power supply.

    According to him, apart from the secretariat complex which includes the Government House, Lagos State House of Assembly and public service offices, the plant will also feed the Lagos Television (LTV 8); Lagos State Printing Corporation; Lagos State Council of Arts & Culture; Office of the State Surveyor-General; proposed Multi-Agency Complex, and Staff Quarters I, II and III with power in addition to power street lights on Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja.

  • Fed Govt eyes $3b proceeds from PHCN sale

    Fed Govt eyes $3b proceeds from PHCN sale

    The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki, has said government is expecting over $3 billion proceeds from the sale of the 18 successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). He said this huge proceeds will make it the biggest privatisation in global history.

    Dikki who disclosed this in a keynote presentation to Nigeria Investors’ Summit held in New York, United States of America (USA), noted that the government has been consistent in its policy to open up its economy and create the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.

    According to a press statement, the BPE chief added that the present administration has gone the extra mile in its efforts to create a conducive environment to attract private sector investments in infrastructure.

    He identified institution of sound policies; liberalisation by abrogation of monopoly laws; separation of the roles of policy formulation, regulation and operation; and institution of appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks;

    Others are setting up of independent regulatory agencies and limiting government to policy formulation, planning and technical regulation; and putting in place appropriate fiscal and tariff incentives.

    He noted that the reform initiatives that were implemented by the government had worked, urging prospective investors to take advantage of this.

    Dikki said the world is now waking up to Nigeria which he said is the most attractive investment haven in the world. He urged investors that had missed the last tranche of investment opportunities not to miss the coming opportunities.

    According to the BPE chief, the first in the long list of upcoming opportunities are in the telecommunications and the transport sectors, stating that NITEL and its frequencies are still available for sale in a guided liquidation process that will commence soon.

    In the transport sector, he said that the Railway Bill, National Inland Waterways Bill, Ports and Harbour Bill, and National Transport Commission Bill were ready and would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage into law.

    Dikki revealed that the reforms in the housing sector had equally reached advanced stages, adding that with over 18 million housing deficit in the country, the Federal Government had made the reforms in that sector a priority.

    He said the BPE, in collaboration with key stakeholders, is currently reviewing the policies, legal and regulatory framework to attract private sector investments in the housing sector.

    He disclosed that the Abuja Commodities and Stock Exchange will provide another window of opportunity for investors.

    Dikki said: “We will harness the warehouses and silos all over the country and link them up to the trading platform for Warehouse Receipt Trading System. Once we make prices and buyers predictable, we have a mega boom in the making.”

    According to him, the planned reform in the Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) will commence with the privatisation of Bank of Industry (BoI) and Bank of Agriculture (BoA).

    On the reforms in the tourism sector, he said the BPE has started the review of the policy, legal and regulatory frameworks for the sector to attract private sector capital into the tourism gold mine.

    He alerted the investors interested in the Oil and Gas sector that when the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed, the Refineries will be available for privatization; adding that the network of oil and gas pipelines will also be available for concession.

     

  • Govt votes $2.6b PHCN cash for workers’ pay

    Govt votes $2.6b PHCN cash for workers’ pay

    THE $2.6 billion (about N415.2 billion) realised from the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) will be used to defray the workers’ benefits, Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) Benjamin Dikki said yesterday.

    Dikki said there was delay in paying some workers because of the differences in names, multiple Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA), wrong account numbers, among others.

    He said the funds required for the exercise had been remitted to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) who has remitted same to the banks for payment.

    In a statement in Abuja, BPE Director of Communications Mr. Chigbo Anichebe said Dikki spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, while fielding questions from reporters at the funeral of the mother of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, Senator Olugbenga Obadara.

    He said as auditors verified and reconciled these differences, payments would be concluded as expeditiously as possible.

    The statement quoted Dikki as saying the Federal Government was committed to concluding the payment of all verified entitlements of PHCN successor-companies, workers before the end of the second week of October.

  • Nunc Dimitis for PHCN

    Be gone! Away with you harbinger of darkness. No tears for you Tormentor-in-Chief of the Federal Republic. For several decades you be-straddled the land and like evil incubus, you would not yield to light, casting deathly shadows over the land. Like a swarm of locusts you left the farmlands bare, voiding our harvests. Be gone! Away with you harbinger of woes.

    Power Holding Company of Nigeria, (PHCN) is no more. It ceased to exist on September 30, 2013 when a swarm of private owners took over bits of its businesses. Adieu PHCN, the abiku who came in different guises and stole the spark in our eyes. PHCN the scion of amadioha that turned out cold as a mucous; nary an ember flickered in you! Would a lion sire a snake? Be gone with thee and may you never reincarnate; yes, may you never return here. We have nailed you to the iroko tree so that you will end up at the middle of no where. We have impaled you deep in the ancient forest. Let the crows pick you clean. Be gone you swathe of darkness.

    Should you return, we shall arraign you before the court of sango, the one who is thunderous of speech and breathes fire on felons. The one whose wrath is dealt in megawatts wired through the sinews of the gods. You who blinkered the light of our great land he will make you swear by the waters of the Kainji. May I come back a turbine if I caused grief by willfully inflicting darkness on the people; may I be as decrepit as the egregious Egbin thermal plant if I fiddled with figures.

    Away and be gone with you! Go the way of the ogbanje on his seventh journey of no return. Now that you have been marked and diced up (like that restless fetal spirit) we shall inter you with the analogue meters of your creation so that we might erase your foot step of folly. We shall also throw in a brigade of that stalwart little gasoline tiger, the rascal Chinese wonder as a fitting memorial to your tumultuous sojourn among us. May you enjoy their noisome company even in the hereafter and may you be ensconced in the company of a vengeful multitude of our fume asphyxiated souls wailing for justice.

    Be gone, unbundled behemoth that we may pick the pieces of our dark wasted years; be gone that we may retool the power plants of our lives and re-augment the megawatts of our existence. You will never have to hold the power of our company anymore; not even the candle of our lives. Your Lugardian transformers which remind of torture chambers will sooner be sent after you. Please keep them as mementoes of your anachronistic tradition.

    Hardball bid you farewell, mirthful that I witnessed this day of our epiphany I sing you this nunc dimitis. I shed nary a tear for you, no fond memories either. Anything else will do; anybody else but you. I join in sweeping the streets after you; I will lend a hand in clearing the cobwebs of those dreary decades. We will make new dungarees and acquire fresh sets of hard hats. We will change our logos and slogans. We will clean out and revamp your jaded edifices. Most of all, we will retool our mind and unlearn our trade. We will forever sing and dance on the grave of your infamy and leave you in the hoary shadows of the past as we march into the horizon of our new sun – and our un-flickering power.

     

  • Expert hails Fed Govt on PHCN sale

    •Cautions protesting workers

    A retired officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Managing Director of Prince Ades Oke International Ventures, Prince Okedele Timothy Adekola, has hailed the Federal Government on the recent handover of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to private owners.

    The businessman congratulated the government for the “laudable feat”.

    He advised the government to put in place an effective monitoring mechanism to prevent undue influence on the private firms in their quest to provide regular power supply to drive Nigeria’s economy.

    Adekola spoke in Lagos at a forum for the beneficiaries of his South Korean Technology mission called, G-F Fair, which will hold between October 9 and 12 in Sintex, South Korea.

    The company chief urged the government to ensure that PHCN workers, who were affected by the sales, are settled.