The 48, 000 disengaged staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) decried the Non Payment of their entitlements by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) since their disengagement six years ago following the privatization of company.
Speaking with Journalists yesterday in Bauchi, Spokesperson of the former staff Malam Hassan Musa Gar said they have engaged the services of Barrister Emmanuel Okere law firm based in Abuja to pursue their entitlements.
According to him, since their sack, they never collected any benefits, adding that other unpaid entitlements owed them include 7.5 per cent of Federal Government Contribution of their pensions, arrears for personal/individual contributions for 16 months, 10 per cent equity share ‘as required by law’ and pre-retirement training allowances.
He lamented that a campaign of calumny on newspapers pages last week insinuating that coordinators of the forum of the disengaged staff were scamming the former employees by collecting the sum of N1, 000 from each person for verification was untrue.
Gar said the forum was not conducting any verification, but was collecting signatures of the affected former workers of the company to enable them authorize the law firm to fight for their rights.
He clarified that the N1, 000 being contributed was for logistics and facilitation fees for the legal action being taken against the BPE pointing out that the PHCN trade union and other relevant stake holders failed to fight for them.
WikkiTimes reports that in May this year, the Association of the Disengaged PHCN Workers in Bauchi had appealed to the Federal Government to see reasons with their predicament and pay them their entitlements, an appeal that appears to have fallen in deaf ears.
