by Lekan Olanrewaju

PHCN workers on Thursday threatened to embark on an indefinite strike to protest unmet demands. They also condemned the compulsory retirement of three top executives of the company. The three executives had been sacked earlier in the week by the Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji.

At a joint press briefing on Thursday, the National Union of Electricity (NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) accused the Minister of pursuing a personal agenda, saying the sacking of the executives had nothing to do with an alleged connection with power generation as claimed by Nnaji.

“We have observed with dismay the obstinate posture of the Power Minister in tackling the challenges and the labour related issues in the Power Sector Reforms which absolutely has been counterproductive.” General Secretary of SSAEAC, Mr. Abiodun Ogunsegha, said.

“We maintain and demand that, the minister should rescind his decisions of the transfer of the LPC of the affected members of staff, stop the winding down of PHCN corporate headquarters until all labour issues are resolved and also reinstate the three estranged executives.”

The labour leaders in the Ministry of Power have ordered all workers in the industry to down tools and embark on an indefinite strike beginning from Wednesday next week.

The three unions in the sector; National Union of Electricity, NUEE, and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSAEAC, and the National Union of Pensioners, NUP, Electricity sector, had previously given the Federal Government a March 31, deadline to address a number of grievances or risk the strike action.