02-05-2023

                                     The Director General                                                                                           Bureau Of Public Enterprises                                                                                  No 11 Osun Crescent,                                                                                          Off IBB Way,                                                                                                            Maitama - Abuja.                                                                                                                         

Attention:  Mr Alexander A. Okoh

Sir,

Introduction:                                                                                                       We are writing this petition to your esteemed office on behalf of the employees of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in the diaspora to acknowledge the efforts of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, the Unions, and other stakeholders in commencing the process towards making the payment of our overdue outstanding entitlement a reality and to call your attention to a serious omission.

Reason for petition
As you may recall, your Bureau recently released a modality schedule for the verification exercise of former employees of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). The Bureau left out an online modality for the verification of the former employees in diaspora. We feel we are being unfairly denied what is clearly "our own sweat". Efforts to obtain explanations and have this corrected before now have not yielded the desired fruit. 

Diaspora Group:
It must be emphasized that the diaspora population omitted in this verification schedule are men and women who spent their productive lives serving our dear country through NEPA and later the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and who still have their families and relatives in Nigeria but only stepped outside for greener pastures to survive. Therefore, this omission was a total embarrassment and a rude shock capable of creating mental disorders for some of us in the diaspora.

Our Request:                                                                                                        In view of this, we respectfully request that your office consider issuing an urgent statement concerning this omission to calm the nerves of those in the diaspora across the world with the assurance that the error is being addressed. We assure you this action is apt and will be quickly and widely circulated before the brewing agitation in the diaspora snowballs into a major issue.

We also implore the Bureau to speedily release the online modalities and set dates for the verification of all employees of defunct PHCN in the diaspora before the commencement of the physical exercise across Nigeria starting on the 15th of May 2023 as it is practically impossible for us to be physically present in Nigeria for obvious reasons.

Reason why the petition is addressed to BPE                                                Since the inception of the Bureau with the cardinal objective to privatize government-owned companies, your  Bureau has carried its delicate and onerous mandate with the utmost sense of responsibility, fairness and justice.

In the case of PHCN privatization, which the Bureau midwife and delivered, your office has done well but must conclude this last hurdle to the entire staff of the defunct Holding company at home and in the diaspora, including those who have passed away.

The Director General sir, your antecedent in the private sector prior to your appointment in 2017 up till now, has proven your integrity and fairness, and we appeal that you bring this to bear on our issue. This letter is our humble way of calling your attention to this inadvertent omission and seeking immediate intervention and correction.

Conclusion:                                                                                                          It is the view of this group that with the human capital available in the Bureau and the level of technology in the world, using the various online platforms such as Zoom and others, to carry out the exercise should not be a challenge. We are ready to collaborate with the Bureau and the unions to make this exercise seamless and transparent.

We will appreciate it if your office acknowledges this letter as a confirmation of your noble intention towards our concerns and ensures that the two in-house unions are carried along in this process.

God Bless Nigeria

Yours sincerely,                                                                                                         Adenipekun Haastrup                                                     Suleiman Tahir,
Diaspora Coordinator                                        Diaspora Secretary

For and on behalf of Defunct PHCN Employees In Diaspora

cc                                                                                                                     National Union Of Electricity Employees (NUEE) 
Senior Staff Association of Electricity & Allied Companies (SSAEAC)