Nigerians might experience power outage for a while

chika ebuzor

April 20, 2016 6:49 AM

The staff said the issue of severance pay for personnel of the former Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), is the bone of contention.

The country could be further plunged into darkness if the current rift between the

Punch reports that TCN locked out its workers from its Abuja headquarters following the disagreement.

A senior staff of the company who spoke on the issue said “Of course, the TCN headquarters is where a lot of transmission activities are being coordinated and directives are given; a few of these transmission activities are also being implemented here. So, grounding activities at the TCN headquarters is not good at all for the entire power value chain, because it may lead to blackout in most parts of the country.”

The staff said the issue of severance pay for personnel of the former Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), is the bone of contention.

The source said “There are a lot of issues; some workers are complaining that they have not been paid and so they stopped the Permanent Secretary of the Power ministry, Louis Edozien, from trying to take over some offices in the building recently. During the process, there were series of altercations, which almost degenerated into a brawl.

“Also, the workers are of the view that the government had failed to keep to some of the agreements it reached with them, and as a result, insisted that the headquarters of the defunct PHCN, which currently houses the TCN, cannot be given to the ministry. This was fiercely fought against by the permanent secretary, but he met a stiff resistance from the workers.”

Laolu Akande, the media aide to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, in a statement on Sunday, April 17, 2016, also said the poor electricity supply being witnessed in the country might continue till May, when repairs on the vandalised Forcados terminal will be completed.

See Pulse Photo-News gallery below.

...........................................................................................

chika ebuzor