FORUM GIVES BPE ULIMATUM TO SETTLE ALL OUTSTANDING SEVERANCE BENEFITS

PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna has officially given the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) fourteen days ultimatum to pay all the short fall observed in the administration of Severance Benefits of their members and other withheld entitlements as prescribed in Hassan Summonu’s Report. This was contained in a letter dated November, 18, jointly signed by the Coordinator Stanley Ilumah, Sunday Onyemaechi Eze and Eneye Etudaiye on behalf of the forum which was addressed to the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and received November, 23.
The forum also passed a vote of NO CONFIDENCE on both NUEE/SSAEC. Consequently, the Bureau was adviced to desist from dealing with the above unions on their behalf on the above issue or any others that bother on their welfare except with their express permission emphasising once more that they have ceased to be members of NUEE/SSAEC by virtue of their disengagement from the service of PHCN.
Prominent in the letter also are demands for immediate payment of the following abandoned entitlements: 7.5% Employer/Federal government pension counterpart fund, 10% equity share meant for staff of PHCN, Disengagement Training Allowance, 16 months outstanding arrears and 13 months outstanding arrears (the 13 months arrears was peculiar and accrued to staff of Kaduna Zone only owing to the fact that the company was privatised one year after others across the nation).

BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER AS EXCLUSIVELY OBTAINED BY thenewinsightng.blogspot.com.

1.0 BACKGROUND
1.1 *We, the above named Registered Forum, stands in the gap to defend and propagate the interest of our members who were disengaged from the services of both Power Holding Company of Nigeria (Kaduna Distribution Company) and Kaduna Electric, covering Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi States. *
1.2 *The Director-General is invited to know that in 2013 when the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) issued Severance Pay Advice/ Payment of Terminal Benefit to the over 50,000 NEPA/PHCN staff across the nation, it was observed that the exact years of service put by most if not all staff who are currently our members under the then Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company did not count in the final computation of their Terminal Benefits.*
1.3 *The complaint was at that time and subsequently brought to the attention of the two in-house unions namely: NUEE/SSAEC who were the principal negotiators and representatives of the entire work force before the disengagement of our members but no concerted effort at genuinely resolving the issue was made even as we write.*
1.4 *Other benefits as captured in Summonu’s Report which formed part of the basis for severance of our members who were then staff of Kaduna Electric but were abandoned three years on includes:*
(a) 7.5% Employer/Federal government pension counterpart fund
(b) 10% equity share meant for staff of PHCN
(c) Disengagement Training Allowance
(d) 16 months outstanding arrears
(e) 13 months outstanding arrears (the 13 months arrears was peculiar and accrued to staff of Kaduna Zone only owing to the fact that the company was privatised one year after others across the nation)

2.0 THE SPIRIT OF PHCN CONDITION OF SERVICE, 2010

2.1 *Section 13.2.20 of the PHCN Condition of Service 2010 states inter alia, “where an employee holding a temporary or contract appointment transfers to a permanent one, the period during which he was on such an appointment will count in full for the purpose of calculating his pension and gratuity provided that he did not receive any extra pay in the form of contract gratuity while holding the temporary appointment.” The above provision is weighty enough for the unions in the power sector to have prevailed on BPE and others responsible for the computation of the entitlements of our members to do the needful but that opportunity was denied.* 

3.0 CESSATION OF MEMBERSIP OF NUEE/SSAEC

3.1 *You may wish to know also that the membership of our members who were staff to the privatised Kaduna Distribution Company and members of NUEE/SSAEC automatically ceased on the 30th day of June, 2012 being the terminal date of payment of benefit of staff, as captured in Severance Benefit Advice (Statement of Final Claims), dated 10th June 2013, signaling final exit of the employees’ from union activities and end of the employees’ appointment with the former PHCN Management and the Unions (NUEE/SSA) respectively. 

3.2 *The end of unionsim in the pre-privatised power sector was solemnly celebrated between 30th November- 4th December, 2014 when Kaduna zone which was the last company to be sold was handed over to the new owners. The above exercise resulted to the issuance of Letters of Disengagement from Service by PHCN Management to our members, just as it was done nationwide. 

4.0 VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE

4.1 *It is evident from the above that our members are not employees of any sector in the power industry thus; have ceased from enjoying the benefit of membership of either NUEE or SSAEC. It was on this premise that we inform you that our members do not have implicit confidence in the two in-house unions in the power sector namely: NUEE/SSAEC at the moment. Consequently, we implore your good office to desist from dealing with them on our behalf and on the above issues or any other that bother on our welfare except with our express permission.*

5.0 PURPOSE OF THIS LETTER

5.1 *The purpose of this letter is to implore the Director General of BPE to put in place immediate machinery aimed at working out re-imbursement in the observed short fall in the payment of Severance Package and the above benefits as contained in items a, b, c, d of 1.4 to our members under Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company covering, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi States.*

6.0 OUR CONVINCTION

6.1. *It is our conviction that our members who were employees of the then PHCN/Kaduna Electric discharged their responsibilities diligently at that time in accordance with the PHCN condition of Service, 2010. Therefore, a labourer deserves his wage and terminal benefits in full.*

7.0 SUMMARY AND PRAYER

You are graciously entreated to use your good office to: 

7.1 Ascertain whether the years of service put by our members counted in the computation of their Severance Benefits in accordance with PHCN condition of Service 2010 and Summonu’s Report.

7.2 Release forthwith the Template deployed in the computation of the Severance Benefits of our members to ascertain if it reflected the overall interest of all.

7.3 Determine whether payment of our members possibly from 2007-2012 or from any other year reflects the decisions in Summonu’s Report and the provision of section 13.2.20 of PHCN Condition of Service, 2010.

7.4 Establish whether any other ex-PHCN staff benefited from their entitlements in accordance with their years of service except our members.

7.5 Give all our members the opportunity of further verification to ascertain the above claims.

7.6 Immediately arrange for payment of items a, b, c, d in 1.4 above, the short fall and other outstanding benefits if any.

7.7 Hence forth relate with this Forum in addressing the issues afore stated

*TAKE NOTICE* that, if by the close of business on 12th December, 2016, our demands are not acceded to; we shall be compelled to seek appropriate redress without further recourse to you. This is respectfully submitted for your information and further necessary action. Kindly accept the assurances of our most humble and best regards.* 

STATEMENT ISSUED BY PHCN STAFF FORUM, KADUNA ON THE HIJACK OF FORMS MEANT FOR SHORT PAYMENT OF THE SEVERANCE BENEFIT OF EX--PHCN STAFF BY UNION OFFICIALS

Dear Comrades, the attention of PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna has been drawn to the news making the rounds that some self-acclaimed, relevance-seeking leaders of some unions in the power sector have roguishly hijacked the process in an attempt to assert leadership role on the issuance of forms meant for capturing staff who were short-paid at the time of Severance. When the forms were eventually handed over to them, they designed an addition to perfect their sinister motives. It was reliably gathered that these so called union leaders were the ones who caused the stoppage of the issuance of the forms which led to the crisis in Abuja in the first place.

The addition of the second form calls for urgent interrogation. We have it on good authority that these people have a different agenda from ours. These elements have something up their sleeves. If these people knew what leadership entails and had lived up to their responsibilities, these forms would have been sent ab-initio to every zones for our people to fill instead of allowing us to take risk, waste time, energy and resources only for some irrelevant group to come up with claim of direction and leadership. Did any union leaders inform anybody throughout the zones via a circular, phone call or SMS about this verification? Where were they three years ago when in their very kporo kporo eyes an injustice of this magnitude was perpetrated against our people?

Comrades, the requiem for the extinction of unions in the pre-privatised power sector was solemnly celebrated at the hand-over of Kaduna zone which was the last company to be sold to the new owners in December, 2014. You do not put new wine in old bottle. They should find a new name in the post-privatised power sector and open a fresh page of unionism if they choose with the new companies. It is laughable for the union to shamelessly arrogate unto themselves now the leadership role of a people who are no longer employees of the sector under review or impose membership on people who the union deserted even when they were in service. The membership of over 50,000 disengaged staff of PHCN throughout Nigeria to any union ceased between 2013 -2014 except for those qualified for pension. These people have put their all to the service of Nigeria and are eminently qualified to join the NPU.
After a cursory look at the Severance Advice issued by BPE, one has every cause to query it. It must be stated clearly here that the issue of short payment generally affected all thus the form issued is no longer for ENUMERATORS only. Every ex-staff of PHCN is by this medium enjoined to check his or her Severance Advice issued by BPE and cross check if the year of computation corresponds with his or her first year of employment. Within the bio-data area, one should also check if the year of employment was captured accordingly. Therefore, if your year of employment was 1980, 1990, 2001 as the case may be and your computation starts from 2007, you deserve an answer as to why the computation did not start from the year you are employed.

Dear Comrades, we wish to state categorically clear that, “the days of   deception are over. The empire of the unions built on sinking sand is fast collapsing before the very eyes of those who like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar challenged the omnipotence of God. We have left Egypt, now we abode in Hephzibah. This is a new dawn, this is time of and for change and we can on our own stand and fight for our rights.” The Forum wishes to assure all ex-staff that no stone will be left unturned this time around as nobody; nobody will be left out in this new process. Never again will some people posing as leaders deceive us. We have taken our destinies in our hands and the bull by the horns. Our hands are placed on the plough and there is no going back. We are confident of victory at last. The forum is keenly watching and monitoring events closely. Members who were not able to go to Abuja but have got forms from these people in various zones are urged to COMFORTABLY fill them accordingly but be on red alert too as to the rationale behind the second one. The forum is not resting on its oars to ensure that everybody who was short paid gets his balance. The tortoise was asked: how many times would you be deceived before you learn? We shall continue to keep you posted. Aluta Continua!

DRAMA AS BPE AND EX- PHCN STAFF DISAGREE ON SHORT PAYMENT OF SEVERANCE BENEFIT

The Bureau of Public Enterprisee will never forget November 3, 4 and 5 in a hurry. It was drama of some sort as ex-staff of PHCN who came in droves across the nation to the Bureau of Public Enterprise to fill a form which they said was issued to correct the anomalies noticed as a result of shortfall in computation of their Severance Benefits were denied having access to the the said forms. Officials of BPE who addressed the ex-staff on the matter denied issuing any forms to ex-staff claiming that they only verified those who were not paid at all across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. The officials claimed that if any verification is to be carried out at all, adverts to that effect will be placed in the media as was the tradition. They however presented a different form urging ex-staff to fill and state the nature of their individual complaints.
This irked the already enraged ex-staff who shouted and protested what they call a hidden agenda orchestrated by BPE to deny them of their entitlements and rights three years after they shortfall was noticed. They affirmed that their colleagues filled a different form the previous days querying why they were issued a different one altogether. The ex-staff insisted that the right must be done by BPE. As tempers begin to rise leading to the locking up of and blockage of the entrance of BPE, solidarity songs rented the air. Sensing imminent breakdown of law and order, some officials of the agency came forward once again to address the ex-staff who vowed that no business goes on in BPE if their demands are not met.  According to Dickson Ekwakili an ex-staff who had served eleven years in Kaduna Zone said we are Nigerians and we deserve better treatment.
Five leaders namely:  Mathew Aibola Ojo (Ikeja), Kem Tony Anakwe (Jos), Sunday Onyemaechi Eze (Kaduna) and Dickson Ekwakili (Kaduna) were eventually nominated to meet with some senior management staff of BPE to resolve the contending issues as confirmed information filtered in that the DG has directed a female Director to see to the amicable resolution of the issue. An official whose department was in-charge of the issuance of the form in BPE evaded questions on why the issuance of forms was abruptly stopped even though information at the disposal of ex-staff says that the filling of the form ends on 4th November, 2016. The ex-staff bared their minds on the nonchalant attitude of BPE officials who they accused of hidden agenda and bringing out the beast in them. At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that forms be issued to about 391 ex-staff of PHCN present the first day. The meeting also extended the exercise for another one week to enable others on their way to participate while ex-staff were implored to send a formal complaint on the issue to BPE. It was not clear whether BPE will adhere to the terms of the resolution as there are indications that it only bended backward to allow peace to rein.
Addressing the media Sunday Onyemaechi Eze, from Kaduna Distribution Zone said, the ex-staff of the then NEPA/PHCN discharged their responsibilities diligently in accordance with the PHCN condition of Service, 2010. At the time of the issuance of Severance Pay Advice/ Payment of Terminal Benefit to the over 50,000 NEPA/PHCN staff across the nation by BPE, it was observed that the exact years of service put by many staff  did not count in the final computation of their Terminal Benefit. In fact, the computation of the entitlements of almost if not all the staff as reflected in the Severance Pay Advice issued by the Bureau of Public Enterprise is in conflict with the year of employment of ex-staff. For instance, those who were employed between year 2001-2003 had their entitlements computed from year 2007-2012 instead of 2001-2012.  On his part, Mathew Ajibola Ojo of Ikeja Distribution Zone stated that the complaint was brought to the attention of the two in-house house unions namely: NUEE/SSAEC which were the principal negotiators and representatives of the entire work force but no concerted effort was made to correct the anomaly.
Section 13.2.20 of the PHCN Condition of Service 2010 states inter alia, “where an employee holding a temporary or contract appointment transfers to a permanent one, the period during which he was on such an appointment will count in full for the purpose of calculating his pension and gratuity provided that he did not receive any extra pay in the form of contract gratuity while holding the temporary appointment.”  The above provision is weighty enough for the unions in the power sector to have prevailed on BPE and others responsible for the computation of the entitlements of the ex- staff of PHCN to do the needful but that opportunity was denied.
An official of BPE who does not want his name in print reliably informed thenewinsightng that some elements in BPE working in cohort with union leaders have short changed staff of privatised agencies of government. At a time president Buhari's anti-corruption drive is gathering momentum,  the auspicious time to fight on is now, said the BPE official.
In view of this, the ex-staff calls on the government and well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on BPE and stakeholders in the power sector to first ascertain whether the years of service put by ex-staff counted in the computation of their Severance Benefits in accordance with PHCN condition of Service 2010 and Summonu’s Report. Second, critically look into the template used in the computation of ex-staff Severance Benefits which was shrouded in secrecy to ascertain if it reflected the actual entitlement and the overall interest of the entire staff. Third, determine whether payment of ex-staff from 2007-2012 or any other years different from year of engagement negates the provision of section 13.2.20 of PHCN Condition of Service 2010. Fourth, determine whether some ex-PHCN staff benefited from their entitlements in accordance with PHCN Condition of Service 2010 and their years of service taken into account while others did not. Finally, give all the ex-staff the opportunity of verification to ascertain the above claims.