Privatisation: NUEE Accuses Gencos, Discos Owners Of Deception
The NUEE, said the Genco’s and Disco’s owners, who bought over the assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, deceived Nigerians into believing that they had the Financial and Technical muscles to improve power generation and distribution in the country.
The Zonal Organizing Secretary of the union (Liaison), Engr. Kolade Ayodele, disclosed this, saying the Genco’s and Discos’s also deceived the Federal Government into paying N2 trillion subventions to them.
He said: “The infrastructural development by the New Business Owners in the Power Sector has almost gone comatose while the Socio-Economic status of the average worker in the Sector has continued to decline amidst prevailing harsh economic conditions. The same equipment inherited from Pre-Privatization have remained what drives the Sector as there are no visible attempts by the Generation Companies, GenCos, and Distribution Companies, DisCos to upgrade and expand their capacities and networks.
“Nigerians were deceived into believing that the ‘Harvestors’ had the Financial and Technical muscles to improve power generation and distribution to Nigerians. Can Nigerians be told today that this purpose has been achieved? The answer was echoed in the print and electronic media by members of the National Assembly who even called for the total reversal of the entire process.”
Highlighting the plights of the workers of the defunct PHCN who have not been paid their entitlements to date, Ayodele also said: ‘‘Despite improvement in the wheeling capacity of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, which is still Federal Government owned to over 7,000MW, the generation output has been dwindling below 5,000MW.
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“Almost nine years of power privatization, the entitlements of some of the workers of the defunct PHCN have not been paid as they suffer untold hardship while some have been sent to early grave due to frustration and lack of fund to attend to health challenges after being forced out of service under the guise of privatization.”
He continued: “Alas!, the ‘Hustlers’ who deceived the Federal Government into paying almost two trillion naira subvention to the owners of the new companies since privatization; are being used to call the union names in order to exploit Nigerians and sustain the current comatose situation. Their mission is simply to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it while they keep smiling to the banks.
“Similarly, the precarious work conditions have imposed hardship on existing employees in the sector as the generation companies have refused to sign Conditions of Service guiding Employer and Employee relations. Lack of workplace democracy, poor remuneration, and lack of welfare packages coupled with being denied their fundamental Constitutional rights to belong or join the Union. They have simply become ‘glorified modern day slave camps.”
Speaking on the rising electricity tariff in the country, he said: “Electricity tariff has continued to rise without making prepaid meters available to Nigerians despite the Federal Government’s directive to the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission and the DisCos.
“We are prepared to use our labour and sweat to liberate the sector and the country from the clutches of these ‘Hustlers’ in the power sector.”
