‘BPE not responsible for PHCN casual workers’ entitlements’

The National Industrial Court (NIC), sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was told on Wednesday that the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) was not responsible for the payment of entitlements of 384 casual workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
The casual workers had sued BPE and PHCN for non-payment of their entitlements.
Hundreds of the workers at the court premises were shocked when the BPE counsel, Obasa Osoka, made the revelation.
Osoka told Justice Firstina Kola-Olalere that the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO), not BPE, was responsible for the payment of the casual workers’ entitlements.
“Recently, the Ministry of Labour, in conjunction with the Ministry of Power, conducted a verification exercise of the casual PHCN workers in which about 112 of them were paid by NELMCO. So, BPE is not responsible for the payment of severance packages, gratuities, pension and other entitlements of the claimants,” Osoka said.
But counsel to the workers, Mr Ahmed Tarfa, would have none of that. “The BPE privatised PHCN, and so other liabilities that come from it are acquired by the BPE. I have a letter in my possession which emanated from the BPE where it claimed responsibility for the payment of the allowances and other benefits of the casual PHCN workers.
“NELMCO could only deal with the casual PHCN workers, who must have passed through BPE and have their names forwarded to NELMCO for payment. It is their responsibility to discharge that action and then NELMCO will be bound to carry out its function,” he said.
Tarfa urged the court to direct the defendants to pay the claimants all the salaries, severance packages, gratuities, pension and other entitlements due to them.
The Judge, Justice Firstina Kola- Olalere, adjourned hearing to June 2.