Govt concludes settlement of PHCN workers next week

ALL verified former workers of the recently privatised Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) will be fully paid their severance wages by next week, according to the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki.
The settlement is to pave way for the transfer of physical assets to the new investors. Dikki, whose agency is charged with the sale and transfer of state-owned enterprises to core investors, spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State, according to a statement yesterday in Abuja by the BPE Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Joe Anichebe.
The statement quoted Dikki as saying that the funds required for the exercise have been remitted to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), which has remitted same to the commercial banks for the payment of entitlements.
According to Dikki, the Federal Government earmarked the entire $2.6 billion proceeds from the sale of PHCN successor-companies for the settlement of staff benefits. However, the delay in concluding payments was due to differences in names, multiple RSA accounts and wrong account numbers, among others.