Sacked personnel of defunct PHCN cry out for nonpayment of entitlements
Sacked personnel of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have called on the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to hasten payment of their entitlements including pension and gratuity. Some of the affected staff, who visited Daily Trust office Tuesday, lamented that they were sacked since 2013, but their entitlements have not been paid […]
Sacked personnel of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have called on the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to hasten payment of their entitlements including pension and gratuity.
Some of the affected staff, who visited Daily Trust office Tuesday, lamented that they were sacked since 2013, but their entitlements have not been paid to them despite attending series of verification exercises.
One of them, Bala Umar Gwale said: “I was opportune to collect my gratuity but my pension is still hanging with the Bureau of Public Enterprises. I could not get another job, three years after my disengagement from the PHCN. Feeding of my family is my serious task at present.”
He pointed out that when they were invited for the last verification exercise in Kaduna state in October this year, they were told that they would be paid their entitlements as soon as the exercise is over, noting that “two months after the verification, we have not received our entitlements from the BPE.”
Another affected staff, Alhaji Kabiru Muhammad said the delay in payment of their entitlements is negatively affecting his life and that of his family members.
“My daughter was recently sent back home for my inability to pay her school fees. Since I don’t have money to offset the outstanding school fees, I was left with no option than to allow her to stay at home.
I knew many of my colleagues who were affected by the retrenchment that could not afford to pay for the education of their children. To be honest with you, the education of our children is at stake,” he said.
He added that many of the affected people could not also feed their families three times in a day, appealing to the BPE to come to their aide by paying them their entitlements.
Also commenting on the issue, Malam Aminu Sani Zakari lamented that while some of the affected personnel have received their gratuities; others have not collect even a dime in the name of entitlements.
“We are highly disappointed with the way and manner our issue is being handled by the BPE. We are the bread winners of our families and we want our money to take care of our families. Currently, my wife could not gain admission into a higher education school because I have no money to pay for her registration,” he said.