By Victor Ahiuma-Young

ORGANISED Labour in the nation’s Power Sector yesterday in Lagos, expressed doubt over the sincerity and fruitfulness of the ongoing probe of the Power sector by the Senate Committee on Power, expressing fears that the probe might be another exercise in futility.

Cross section of Nigerian workers, during the 2014 Workers day commemoration, THEME: Building Enduring Peace and Unity, Panacea for Sustainable National Development, at Onikan, Stadium, Lagos Island. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

On the platform of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Labour recalled that the House of Representatives Committee on Power headed by Hon. Ndudi Elumelu probed the same Power Sector and submitted its Reports but till date, nothing came out of it.

In a statement by its General Secretary, Mr. Joe Ajaero, NUEE claimed some of the members of the Senate Committee and others now in the Senate were part and parcel of the process being probed now, saying “we wonder if this probe will be fruitful as expected. From the revelations so far, we also believe that the respondents have been economical with the facts. It is noteworthy that almost the 50,000 disengaged defunct Power Company of Nigeria, PHCN, staff have not been paid their benefits arising from one and half years of uncalculated emoluments to other sundry issues. The 10% equity share holding in a privatized PHCN due to workers as contained in Electric Sector Power Reform Act, EPSRA, 2005 is yet to be allotted to staff.

“The whole privatization process was characterized by fraud and indecent activities. It is equally imperative to find out that the process behind the sale of PHCN, because some of the reasons they gave at the point of intention to privatize were to attract Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, which have been grossly missing at the end of the transactions. Government did not sell off everything and from available documents, the Government still maintains about 40% of shares of the privatized Power Sector while the Investors control about 60%. However, the Government has even unofficially relinquished everything to the Investors.”

NUEE added that it felt “perturbed about the efficacy, fruitfulness and potency of this probe panel, given the history and how such probes have always ended. We recall, the House of Representative took up the probe of the same Power Sector. The Committee headed by Hon. Ndudi Elumelu did and submitted their Reports but nothing came out of it. It is our prayer that this Senate Probe of the Power Sector Reforms will not be another wishful exercise.”