power sector reform initiative, investigations by our correspondent have revealed.
On one hand is the disagreement between the government and workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria as regards the payment of severance benefits, which took a new twist on Tuesday.
On the other hand is the issue of too many interests in the sector, which has led to the duplication of duties in the industry.
These, according to top sources at the Ministry of Power, may create further challenges to the smooth running of the sector.
A top official in the ministry said the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, was working hard to address the challenges in the sector, but stressed that agitations by the labour unions and concerns raised by some interested parties in the sector might increase the bottlenecks hampering the smooth transformation of the sector.
When our correspondent visited the ministry on Tuesday, it was learnt that the minister and some stakeholders had met with the labour unions the previous day on issues surrounding the payment of workers’ final entitlements before their layoff.
Though the outcome of the meeting did not go down well with the workers’ representatives, the minister was said to have informed the unions of plans to constitute two new committees different from the ones earlier inaugurated before he assumed office.
Our correspondent gathered that the unions were asked to assemble at the minister’s conference room on Tuesday for the inauguration. But on getting to the ministry on the appointed day, it was observed that the committee members were seated, but the union officials never showed up.
After waiting for about three hours, the members of the committee started leaving one after the other and there was no word from the ministry officials as to why the meeting did not hold.
When asked what was going on, the source, who pleaded not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the subject, said, “Most members of staff and even some key personnel here are in the dark as to proceedings in this ministry. I know you will want to ask me how they hope to transform the sector if things are moving like this.”
Commenting on the development, the General Secretary, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, Mr. Abiodun Ogunsegha, said the government was not sincere in its pursuit of the reform of the power sector.
He said the government seemed to lack the financial wherewithal to bring the reforms in the sector to fruition, stressing that issues that had to do with workers’ entitlements were not being addressed meticulously.
According to Ogunsegha, the government on Monday said it was going to set up two more committees on rationalisation and benefit review to look into the issue of workers’ pay.
“But that is not in consonance with the understanding we reached with the government,” he added.
The SSAEAC general secretary said both parties had earlier agreed on a technical committee, which would look at the payment details as they affected individuals, and an implementation committee saddled with the responsibility of implementing the findings of the first committee.
He said, “So, we had agreed on the issue of committees during our previous meeting. But when we got to the table on Monday, they were talking of a rationalisation committee and benefit review committee, which we don’t understand. What brought about rationalisation when our agreement was payment of benefits? They told us that they were to inaugurate those committees and we refused to take part in it.”
