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Tag: PHCN

  • Investors to take over PHCN firms next year

    Investors to take over PHCN firms next year

    Winners of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor firms will have to wait a while for their prizes.

    Assets of the PHCN will be handed over to the investors January, the Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Power, Becks Dagogo-Jack, has said.

    Speaking during a Power Investors Summit in Lagos, Dagogo-Jack said President Goodluck Jonathan only presented shares certificates to the 14 power generation and distribution companies on October 1.

    He said the handing over of assets to the investors was delayed till next year because of pending labour issues.

    He said the government was aware of the resentments that greeted the unbundling and sale of PHCN, adding that it wanted to ensure workers’ outstandings benefits are paid before the investors take over.

    He said: ‘The physical handing over of PHCN’s assets to the investors will take place in January 2014. What the government has done was to present certificates only to the investors. This will be preceded by the declaration of the Transition Electricity Market (TEM).

    “The reason we are having a transition market is to enable investors to test the market, make adjustments where necessary and later develop it. The decision to have a bridge transition market was to enable the government and investors to have a clear idea of what is going to happen.”

    Also, the Director, Infrastructure Department, International Finance Corporation, Mr Bernard Sheahan, said the institution has concluded arrangements to provide about N1billion loan for the 14 power firms.

    “We hope to be financing a number of power generation and distribution companies  soon. We are holding discussions with them to provide long-term financing to encourage the growth of the sector.In the last three months, we  have been holding discussions with the government on implementation of some gas projects, as well as the transmission aspect of the sector,” he added.

    According to him, the assets of PHCN are bankable and suitable for long-term financing initiative which the World Bank has prided itself of.

    “It is wrong to say the PHCN’s assets are old and not financeable. We have discovered that the assets are bankable,  hence the decision to finance the power firms as part of growth strategies for Nigeria,” he added.

    He said the companies have paid for the assets, adding that the next stage for them is to look for more funds from institutions such as AfricanFinance Corporation(AFC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), among others.

    Workers of the Benin Zone of the PHCN yesterday found it difficult to collect their September salaries and access their accounts following alleged freezing of their accounts by banks.

    It was gathered that the workers were told by bank officials that the decision to freeze their accounts was to prevent hackers because of the entitlements the workers were expecting from the government.

    The workers were told return for verification before they could access their accounts.

    Secretary of National Union of Electicity Employees (NUEE), Benin Zone, Godwin Etumonu, who confirmed the development to The Nation said the banks should have informed them before taking the step.

    “It is sad that we cannot access our September salaries paid by PHCN. Now we are stranded and they have asked us to come personally. What about those travelled or are on sick bed?” he said.

    Commending the placards on the gates of PHCN, Benin Zonal Office with inscriptions warning the investors to stay away, Etumonu, said: “We will not allow them to come unless they agreed to accept the liabilities the Federal Government refuses to pay. The PHCN is still in existence until all labour matters are resolved.Over 5,000 casual workers who have worked for over five to 10 years need to be given full employment.”

  • PHCN workers protest unpaid entitlements

    PHCN workers protest unpaid entitlements

    Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) workers protested yesterday the non-payment of their entitlements, to stall the take-over of the company by new owners.

    In Abuja, they barricaded the entrance to the headquarters at Maitama District.

    A few minutes away, President Goodluck Jonathan was presenting the certificate and licences to the new owners at the Banquet Hall of the State House.

    Watched over by a military team, the workers were peaceful in the protest. They carried placards, one of which read: “Jonathan, please pay PHCN staff severance packages.”

    The Chairman, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Comrade James Ademola Ayeni, said the workers were protesting the handover of PHCN facilities to investors who claimed to have bought them over.

    He noted that by July, the Federal Government reached an agreement with the union that government should privatise PHCN before handover to the buyers and ensure that all the labour issues are sorted out as agreed.

    Ayeni said it was agreed that the government should regularise the staff so that they will be entitled to severance packages but the government is yet to comply with this understanding.

    According to him, the Federal Government agreed that every worker will be paid severance package based on the time spent since the incoming investors cannot inherit the liabilities of the workers who did not work for them.

    Asked how many PHCN workers have been settled, he said “25% of the workforce”. “They just paid their severance package but they have not paid they pension, which is supposed to go to the PFA.

    “We do it peacefully and the way we do it is to ensure that all PHCN installations are shut down all over Nigeria; then we carry out a protest peacefully for the government to come and ask us what is happening and we will be able to tell them so that you will know who is lying,” Ayeni said.

    In Gombe, workers locked up the company’s offices. They carried placards with various inscriptions, saying they would not allow the handover of the company to private investors until their entitlements were settled.

    Addressing workers in Gombe, the leader of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Mr Yakubu Dung, urged the Federal Government to settle the labour issues.

    In Kano, the North Zonal Chapter of the NUEE held a peaceful demonstration over the matter.

    The General-Secretary of the union, Mr Joe Ajaero, said the demonstration was because of the government’s “silence” on their entitlements.

    The Chairman of the NLC in Kano State, Malam Yunusa Danguguwa, expressed the congress’ support to the unions, saying it was determined to ensure the resolution of the stalemate with the government.

    The protesting workers, who besieged the PHCN premises, carried placards, with inscriptions such as: “No to enslavement, settle our entitlements before habding over, we will resist forceful handover.’’

    ‘’We are using today as stage one to protest and express our dismay in the protest, described as peaceful, that is why all the workers are within the compound of the headquarters of PHCN, representing, Kano, Jigawa and Katsina.’’

     

     

     

    The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, in a statement by its President-General, B.I.Opara and General Secretary A. Ogunsegha decried the delay in payment of their entitlements before the handing over to investors.

    In Lagos, placards in front of the head office of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, one of the privatised companies. The workers carried placards with inscriptions, such as, “Jonathan, Sambo liars, pay us our entitlements,” and Investors stay away, govt must pay us our benefits first”, among others.

    Stationed in front of the Ikeja office were vans loaded with riot policemen.

    The spokesman of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Pekun Adeyanju, said he learnt on Sundaythere was a directive from the union that the office should be locked and the gates were locked by the union.

    The Chairman of NUEE, Lagos zone, Comrade Adeleke Ibrahim, told The Nation: “Workers of PHCN are protesting the injustice meted to them by the Federal Government. Injustice in the sense that labour issues as agreed with the government have not been settled and they are handing over the assets to investors.

    “The few PHCN members of staff, which the government claimed to have paid, were paid half of the benefits, half in the sense that the agreement stipulates that the severance package and pension should be paid together but only the severance benefit was paid.”

     

  • ‘Payment for PHCN meters illegal’

    ‘Payment for PHCN meters illegal’

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday declared the sale of meters by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Limited from July 1, last year as illegal.

    The commission urged any victim to forward the evidence of payment to it.

    NERC’s General Manager, Government and Consumer Affairs, Dr. Tony Akah, spoke at the Local Government Enlightenment Campaign for Power Consumer Assembly at Orerokpe in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State.

    His words: “If you have evidence that from July 1, 2012 till date, please send it to us because it was wrongly collected. It was illegal whether they installed it or not.”

    He said NERC was working out a framework for the minimum qualification of the personnel of the new owners of the electricity distribution companies (DISCOs).

    “Under this new dispensation, the commission has now come up with a framework that will define the minimum qualification of key personnel of these new owners. We are conscious of them bringing the right people in the right positions,” he said.

  • PHCN investors to get certificate Oct. 2

    PHCN investors to get certificate Oct. 2

    •Delta youths decry illegal collections

    The new owners of the Power Holding Company (PHCN) Limited entities will assume ownership on October 2, the General Manager, Government and Consumer Affairs, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Tony Akah, has said.

    He spoke yesterday during the NERC Power Consumer Assembly of the Local Government Enlightenment Campaign in Sapele, Delta State.

    He said: “On October 2, or thereabout, we are going to handover the certificates of ownership to all the distribution companies to these private people. When we do that, the PHCN will hands off.”

    Akah said though challenges in the sector would not disappear overnight upon the emergence of the private owners, there would be improvement in service delivery.

    During the question and answer session, a youth, Mr Onasanya Atumu, lamented that PHCN officials collect N2,000 from every compound monthly without supplying power.

    He threatened that PHCN and its personnel would be set ablaze should the commission fail to stop them.

    His words: “I am for Agazali Communications, a private announcement outfit for the community. As a matter of fact, the light in this community is not properly arranged. For example, in some areas we don’t have light. But I make announcement for PHCN that people should pay their bills. I receive a hell of insults. They even insult my family.”

  • PHCN: NCP gives deadline for payment of entitlement

    PHCN: NCP gives deadline for payment of entitlement

    THE National Council on Privatisations (NCP) has directed the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to ensure that workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) receive their entitlements not later than September 27.

    The directive, issued at the NCP’s sixth meeting in Abuja, coincided with the approval of the payment of the remaining 75 per cent of the 14 companies that bid for the assets of PHCN.

    The firms include: Amperion Power Company Limited(Geregu); Transcorp/Woodrock (Ugbeli); Integrated Energy Company(Ibadan); NEDJO/KEPCO(Ikeja); Vigeo Power Limited(Benin); Aura Energy Limited(Jos); Integrated Energy Company(Yola); Mainstream Energy Limited(Kainji); West Power

    & Gas(Eko) and Mainstream Energy Limited(Kainji).

    Others are KANN Consortium (Abuja); Power

    Consortium (Port Harcourt), Sahelian Power SPV Limited (Kano); the North South Power (Shiroro) and Interstate Electric Limited (Enugu).

    The spokesperson of The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Chigbo Anichebe, in a statement said NCP directed the office of the Accountant General of the Federation to ensure that the entitlements of all the workers of PHCN are fully paid from September 23-27.

    He explained that 12 companies met the August deadline for payment of their 75 per cent balance of the bid price.

    Two of them, he added, made late payments subject to the penalty approved in clause 12.20 on interest for late payment and clause 5.5, 5.5.1 and 5.5.2 of the privatisations Act.

    He said the council has referred the case of CMEC/EURAFIC Consortium, the preferred bidder for Sapele Generation Company, which paid $119,887,156 of the $201,000,000 bid for consideration of the Office of the Attorney General of the

    Federation and Minister of Justice and legal Committee of the NCP for advice.

    This, he said, was because legal issues requiring resolutions were identified.

    He added that the council has approved the protocol for the physical handover of the successor PHCN companies to the bidders that have fully paid the remaining 75 per cent of the acquisition cost.

    The NCP in December 2010 advertised for expressions of interest from prospective core investors interested in acquiring controlling stakes in the 11 successor distribution companies (DISCOs) and the six generation companies (GENCOs) created out of the PHCN.

    The exercise, which lasted several months, culminated in the selection of 15 preferred bidders for the souls of PHCN, with fourteen eventually making the payment.

     

  • FG to regulate electricity tariffs

    The Chairman, Round Table Committee of 11 companies that bought Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Mr. Ransom Owan, said the Federal Government will regulate the electricity tariffs to protect consumer’s right.

    Owan made the disclosure in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

    He said companies which bought the PHCN had paid up as at August 21 and would soon commence operations.

    Owan said electricity prices were controlled and governed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission as the protector of the consumer.

    He said the new PHCN owners would treat the consumers as “kings’’ since they stand to pay for the industry’s financial responsibilities.

    “Why won’t the consumer be king when generation, transmission and distribution of power are paid for by the consumer through rates that are controlled,’’ Owan said.

    The chairman said the new electricity owners were not expected to exceed the prescribed regulated price by the commission.

    He urged consumers to remain confident as their interest would be protected in the regulation of tariffs.

    Owan also said that all existing staff of PHCN would be paid off 100 per cent by the Federal Government in line with labour unions demand.

    He said the new owners of PHCN also had an agreement with the government to retain some PHCN employees for a period of six months for continuity.

     

  • Workers’ protest may stall PHCN handover to GENCOs, DISCOs

    Workers’ protest may stall PHCN handover to GENCOs, DISCOs

    Despite making all payments, the 13 generation and distribution companies(GENCOs and DISCOs) may still have a hurdle to clear before taking over the assets of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN).

    The workers are threatening to stop the takeover until the Federal Government implements its agreements with them before PHCN’s privitisation began a few years ago. The agreement included the payment of their severance package and re-employment by the new operators, among others.

    Earlier, the workers protested the handing over of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in Abuja to Manitoba Hydro International, a Canadian firm.

    The Chairman, National Union of Electricity Workers, Lagos Chapter, Mr Adeleke Ibrahim, said workers had not receive their severance package because of the Federal Ministry of Power’s inability to put its record straight.

    He urged the committee and government agencies charged with computing the allowance to speed up and ensure that it is paid in time. The payment, he said, would placate the workers and avert problems in the future.

    The union, he said, would resist any further delay in payment because the workers had waited long enough for it and were now worried.

    The Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr Sam Amadi, believes the workers’ action cannot scuttle the reforms in the sector. The workers had no power stopping Nigerians from benefitting from the reforms.

    He said the 13 GENCOs and DISCOs had met the requirements for operating as private entities, adding that the threat cannot stop them from starting operations.

    The workers, Amadi said, had not been justifying their earnings because they could not provide light for the country.

    He said it was time the workers left the sector for private companies to improve electricity supply in Nigeria.

    Amadi said: “The workers have been collecting salaries for years, yet they could not guarantee power supply. The government has paid N400billion as severance package, in addition to 50 per cent increase in their salaries. In spite of this, they are unable to justify the payment. Do we have light in the country? No. They have no choice than to leave for the new operators to come in to improve power supply.

    “I believe in the workers’ welfare, but I do not support any strategy that would destroy the successes recorded in the power reforms. The workers should go because issues relating to their outstandings have been sorted out. They cannot stop the private-sector- led initiative introduced to enhance productivity in the power sector.”

    The spokesperson in the Ministry of Power, Mr Timothy Oyedeji urged the workers not to lose sleep over the matter since the government has agreed to pay, adding that there are laid down structures for the payment.

    He urged the workers to refrain from doing anything that could affect the privatisation process.

    The workers’ actions, he said, would not prevent the companies from starting their operations, adding that some people were against privatising the sector.

    He said laid down procedures were followed to drive privitisation, urging workers to show enough understanding for the growth of the power sector.

    The former President, Senior Staff Association of the defunct National Electric Power Authority, Mr Godwin Ifenacho, said the protest followed the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the workers. He said the workers were provoked by the slow pace of payment, adding that only 40 per cent of the workers have received their emoluments.

    He said workers in Abuja among other cities had been paid, while others have not.

    He said: “The problems lie in the ways in which the workers are paid their emoluments. A situation where some workers have been paid, while others have not, is not good enough. This has created room for suspicion and fear. Based on this, the workers have no choice than to threaten to sabotage the efforts of the government.”

    The workers, he said, did not want what happened to the workers of the moribound Nigerian Airways and the Nigerian Telecommunication Limited(NITEL) to happen to them. After the liquidation of the Nigerian Airways and NITEL, the government failed to fulfill its promises of re-absorbing the workers”.

    “Workers are afraid of being thrown into the labour market. Their argument is that when the companies eventually take over the assets of PHCN, they would not employ them. To avert this, they want to stop the companies from starting operations,” he said.

    He urged the government to fast-track payment to dispel rumours that it has a hidden agenda, adding that the government must speed up the payment process, because the period for handing over the assets of PHCN to the private operators is near.

  • BPE, power investors brainstorm on entrance to capital market

    BPE, power investors brainstorm on entrance to capital market

    • Govt briefs PHCN investors

    The Bureau of Public Enterprises ( BPE) and the new owners of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) yesterday brainstormed on how to raise long term capital from the capital market into the sector.

    A source, who spoke to The Nation in confidence, said the meeting discussed how the investors can raise long-term funds from the market for the sector.

    He noted that the meeting was part of the preparation for a smooth handover of the plants to their buyers in order to reduce liabilities to the barest minimum.

    BPE’s Director-General, Benjamin Dikki presided over the meeting that was held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

    The Nation gathered that the meeting was interactive with the stakeholders in the power sector.

    Those who attended included the Managing Director, Nigeria Electricity Bulk Trade , the Director-General, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Aruma Oteh and the Managing Director, Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELCOM), and others.

    Dikki gave an update on the payment of severance package to the PHCN employees to the investors.

    It was also learnt that the modality on how to engage labour under the new dispensation was a major issue at the meeting.

    The source added that the meeting deliberated on the new workforce of the PHCN, and and the possibility of retaining some.

    The Nation yesterday reported that the BPE and the new owners of the power entities were to meet.

  • Handover of PHCN assets begins next week

    Handover of PHCN assets begins next week

    The Federal Government will next week begin the handover of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) assets to their new owners.

    Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo made this known yesterday at a forum organised by the Operator of the Nigerian Electricity Market (ONEM) in Abuja.

    He said: “We congratulate our brothers and sisters who have galvanised to invest in the power assets; this is an example of the Nigerian resilience. We hope to sign off protocols to handover the assets to the new owners next week. This shows that the Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) is going in for a big explosion.”

    Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Ambassador Godknows Igali, he said he was delighted by the level of progress made in the electric power privatisation programme.

    He noted the Federal Government has proved wrong the western critics and institutions that cast doubt in the conclusion of the payment of the 75 per cent for the distribution and generation companies.

    He said the completion of the payments shamed pessimists.

    According to him, most western countries and institutions had, prior to the payment of the bid amounts in the ongoing privatisation, noted that the country may not achieve the expected outcomes.

    Nebo said the forum was organised by the Market Operator (MO) to kick off the registration of licensed participants in NESI.

    He said: “Recent events in the power sector have shown that Nigeria has the resilience to do the right things. Let me tell you that we have been meeting with western countries and they have continually expressed fears that the preferred bidders will not meet up with the payment for their acquired assets.

    “They said nobody out of the preferred bidders will be able to pay for the power assets, but now that has been proved wrong because the bidders have paid and it has been successful all the way.”

    He also noted that the western critics said the PHCN labour issues as one of the likely obstacles that may derail the privatisation, adding that the government has so far paid about 70 per cent of the severance benefits to PHCN workers.

    “The big issue of labour also threatened the privatisation and they pointed at it but as at today, we have paid off at least 70 per cent of the workers of PHCN. We have paid off the severance components and will within next week start paying for the RSA (retirement savings account) components.”

    Executive Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), an MO, Mr Evarestus Mogbo said the registration of participants in NESI was part of the rules.

    He explained that the MO has been mandated to, among others, register and maintain and prepare reports to certify trading points for metering.

    He said: “This is a formal registration of the market participants. It is a crucial stage in the sector and this registration process commences from this time; all licensed market participants can commence the registration. There are a number of conditions precedent required of the MO before the declaration of the transitional stage of the market.

    “These include adequate metering of the trading points, provision of meter information register, development of market settlement software, preparation of market procedures and preparation of market registration/agreement formats as well as registration of NERC licensed market participants.”

  • Residents oppose plans to install electricity poles in estate

    Residents of an estate in Arepo, Ogun State, have opposed the proposed in installation of high tension poles in the area.

    The Journalists’ Estate Residents’ Development Association (JERDA) said the plan was inimical to environmental, urban and physical planning laws of the state.

    In a petition to the Chief Executive Officer, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, PHCN Zonal Headquarters, Alausa Ikeja, the residents said the action was also against the mandatory set back for high tension cables going through residential areas as stipulated in the state’s building plan regulations.

    They said the minimum setback for power lines shall not be less than 11Kv or 8 metres, 33Kv or 10 metres, 132kv or 15 metres, and 330kv or 50 metres, arguing that the erection of high tension wire in front of the houses would subject the occupants to untold health hazards, including exposure to high level radiation which may cause cancer, infertility due to discharges from high tension wire, electrocution, lung and respiratory related ailments associated with high tension cable installation.

    From preliminary investigation, the initial approval for the project was nowhere near the journalists’ estate. But the contractor handling the project had decided to cut cost and opted for an easy way out by running the cable through a side street adding that such move would bring about environmental hazard not only to the residents but to the entire community

    The residents have therefore appealed to the executive officer to use his good office stop the project and call the contractor handling the project to order by doing the needful, to avoid a breakdown of law and order

    “We appeal to you to halt the execution of this project and direct the contractor to explore alternative routes outside populated areas in view of perceived health and safety hazards to residents. We request that a proper Environmental Impact Assessment of this project be demanded from the developer and the contractor.”