Defunct PHCN employees to sue BPE over entitlements

About 48,000 disengaged employees and pensioners of defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), are planning to drag the Public Enterprises (BPE), to court over non-payment of their entitlements.

The spokesman of the organised disengaged employees, Hassan Musa Gar said in Bauchi that the former staffers have been suffering six years after disengagement.

Gar said: “Since the time we were sacked, we have not collected any benefits. Other unpaid entitlements denied include 7.5 per cent of Federal Government’s contribution to our pension arrears for personal/individual contributions for 16 months, 10 per cent equity share ‘as required by law’ and pre-retirement training allowances.”

He also denied an allegation that coordinators of the group were scamming the former employees by collecting the sum of N1,000 from each person for verification.

He added that the forum was not conducting any verification, but was collecting signatures of the affected colleagues to enable them authorise the law firm to fight for their right.

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 PHCN’s trade union and other relevant stakeholders have failed to fight for them.