BREAKING NEWS, Energy Briefs
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THE Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, has said that it had spent N370.8 billion on the payment of severance allowances to workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. Martina Omojola, deputy director, labour matters, electricity power department, BPE, said on Wednesday, June 4, that the total staff strength of the former PHCN workers was 47,913, adding that out of this, 46,308 had so far been validated.
She said that the number of validated workers included both regular and casual workers of the company. “Out of that, we have paid 45,519 workers till date. So, what is outstanding from the validated number is about 789 and we are still processing their benefits. So, with that in mind, we have made payment of N370.8 billion till date in 18 batches through the office of the accountant general of the federation. If you look at that, it’s about 99 per cent of the validated number that have been paid so far,” she said.
Omojola attributed the non-verification of some workers to insufficient information regarding their validity as staff of the defunct PHCN. “Only 1,605 out of the total staff strength of 47,913 are yet to be validated. However, we cannot say we have written them off. There is a committee that still sits on this comprising the BPE, NELMCO, PHCN headquarter, ministry of power, office of the accountant general of the federation and the unions.”
On the settlement of retirees, Omojola said the bureau was also working on the payment of outstanding entitlement. She said that the initial list of retirees with outstanding gratuity and other money were 4,146, adding that so far, 1,586 of them had been paid. She said that a total of N9.2 billion had so far been used to settle the 1,586 retirees that were cleared. “We are presently working on about 1,647 of them. We have gone on verification, moving from one part of the federation to another. Most of the retirees and their next of kin showed up, while others did not. About 913 people have not showed up. So that’s the problem we have to complete the process. And until we get the last person, we cannot stop the work,” she said, adding that members of the public that still had entitlements with the PHCN should register at the PHCN headquarters.
NEITI Bemoans Neglect of Its Reports
THE Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, has expressed concern over the non implementation of findings and recommendations contained in its independent audit report of activities in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. Ledum Mitee, chairman National Stakeholders’ Working Group of NEITI, said the issue of poor implementation of audit findings was capable of undermining the chances of Nigerians reaping the benefits of the global initiative.
Mitee, who spoke at a roundtable session convened by NEITI and Revenue Watch Institute, said if Nigerians are to reap the expected benefits of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative process, then NEITI reports must attract the needed implementation backing. He said at the roundtable that the need harmonise key issues contained in the NEITI audit reports in the oil and gas sector was a source of concern to it. The meeting was also a forum to map out strategies for urgent implementation of the recommendations and it attracted members of the national assembly which is statutorily expected to deliberate on each of NEITI’s audit report but has failed to do so. “The issue of remediation has been of concern to NEITI for a while and I am happy to report that in December 2013, the Federal Government reconstituted and expanded the platform, Inter-Ministerial Task Team, IMTT, for addressing remediation issues arising from our audit reports,” he said.
Mitee called on stakeholders within the IMTT to push the boundaries of implementation beyond its present situation, adding that through proper implementation of recommendations, the benefits of the EITI framework would be palpable to Nigerians. Zainab Ahmed, executive secretary, NEITI, who explained that the purpose of the meeting was to set a clear agenda and timelines for implementation, stated that: “There is no doubt that for NEITI impacts to be better felt, the remediation issues and recommendations in its audit reports must be adequately addressed. We shall continue to deepen our engagements with the government, companies, media and civil society as well as strengthening inter-agencies collaboration with a view to address all these remedial issues,” she said.
NEITI had conducted and published four cycles of audit reports in the oil and gas sector. Each of the audit reports made profound revelations and also identified several processes and governance lapses in the sector as well as provided appropriate recommendations on how to fix the problems in the sector.
Compiled by Anayo Ezugwu
— Jun. 16, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
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