Staff of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in Abuja on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest against the order by the Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, to transfer them out of Abuja.
The workers gathered outside the company’s corporate office in Abuja to protest the decision to deploy them to state offices.
Comrade Temple Iworima, Secretary of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) coordinating FCT, Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi States, said the workers were not happy with the decision to move them to the states.
?Iworima said that the minister had directed the PHCN management to effect the immediate transfer of all the staff in the headquarters out of Abuja.
?“As of yesterday we heard that the Minister ordered the management staff, the MD and the GM HR, and others to come and meet him in the ministry and type the letters that they would transfer all the staff out to the various states.
?“And that is why we are reacting, that is why you see people outside, we have not gotten the letters but last two weeks we have to seize the laptop we saw them doing it, we have to seize the laptop and some of the letters they have typed and also the flash drive.
“Telling them that they should go back to tour negotiation with the government, there is a negotiation going on headed by Hassan Somonu committee which we agreed and they have not implemented those things.”
According to him, the meeting was supposed to hold on Jan. 16 but could not take off because of the fuel subsidy strike.
He described the sudden transfers ‘’ illegal’’, adding that PHCN staff were employees of the Federal Government and would not work for a new company the government was directing them to.
?“When a person have contract with a company, how could another person come and said he should go and meet another company?”
?“Iworima said that the Federal Government should settle the issue of the 10,000 casual workers engaged by PHCN as well as the payment of 50 per cent salary increase agreed upon.
He said that the affected staff should also be paid their severance allowance so that those who preferred to resign from PHCN could do so.
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