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.