…Iserved my country well, Nnaji declares
Indications emerged at the weekend that more trouble may be in stock for
Professor Barth Nnaji, the erstwhile Minister of Power, who left office
in a dramatic way last Tuesday as the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, is
mounting intense pressure for a thorough investigation of his tenure as
the Minister of Power.
This came as organized labour in the Power sector, said it was not
surprised the way the former Minister left of office, saying it had been
vindicated.
It will be recalled that the NLC had earlier said it was pleased with
Tuesday’s resignation of Nnaji, alleging that he compromised the office
of the Minister of Power with his personal business interests, and
being a stumbling block to industrial peace and harmony in the power
sector.
NLC, in a statement by its Acting General Secretary, Comrade Chris
Uyot, declared that “We are pleased with the forced exit of Prof. Bart
Nnaji who until last night was a major problem to renewed effort aimed
at reactivating the power sector having compromised the Office of the
Honourable Minister of Power with his personal business interests, and
being oblivious and a stumbling block to industrial peace and harmony in
the industry.
Reports are already in the public domain on Prof. Nnaji’s record of
(alleged) financial recklessness, high handedness and (alleged)
diversion of major businesses meant for PHCN to his private companies as
well as companies he has vested interests.
“While we welcome his long awaited exit, we call on President
Goodluck Jonathan to immediately institute a thorough investigation into
his tenure as minister in the Power Ministry. We also call on Mr.
President to create an atmosphere of fairness and justice for speedy
resolution of all outstanding labour matters in the process of
disengaging some PHCN employees, which Prof. Nnaji stalled before his
exit.
“The contentious issue of severance benefits is never an issue that
cannot be resolved through dialogue, but Nnaji chose to heat up the
system by blocking every avenue for dialogue and invited armed military
personnel to intimidate workers under spurious pretenses.
“We believe the ongoing dialogue between labour and government will
resolve these issues as quickly as possible if government is willing to
accept meaningful dialogue in appreciation of the Condition of Service
of the workers.”
However, President of NLC, Comrade Abdulwahhed Omar, in Lagos,
commended President Goodluck Jonathan for accepting the long overdue
“resignation” of Nnaji who, throughout his tenure as minister, overtly
displayed his contempt for workers and did not also hide his personal
interest in the industry.
Comrade Omar who was represented by Comrade Amina Danesi, an
ex-officio of NLC, at 8th Biennial Delegates Conference of the Metal
Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, MEPROSSAN, said “These
clearly show he was never qualified to head that ministry in the first
instance as his personal business interests in the sector definitely
compromised his office.
“We urge Mr. President to immediately order an all encompassing
investigation into Prof. Nnaji’s tenure in the ministry as well as speed
up the resolution of all outstanding labour issues in the industry,
including the withdrawal of armed soldiers that were invited by Prof.
Nnaji to intimidate workers under false presumptions.”
Similarly, labour in the power sector, under the umbrella of the
National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE and the Senior Staff
Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSAEAC, told Greenwich news that right from when Prof Nnaji was appointed Chairman of
Presidential Task Force on Power, charged with developing and driving an
action plan for the attainment of steady power supply in the country in
July 2010, labour raised the issue of conflict of interest.
The unions argued that even when he was nominated for ministerial
position, they strongly opposed his appointment as Minister especially
for Power on the ground that he would not be an impartial minister
because he is a player in the industry.
General Secretary of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero, who said he did not
want to talk about Prof Nnaji’s resignation for now, however, said we
had warned the government against his appointment, but we were ignored.
Today we are vindicated. We spoke of conflict of interest since 2010 and
others, the government did not take us serious. But today, we are all
living witnesses.”
It will be recalled that a day before the minister’s resignation, the
union issued a statement titled “Power Minister stinks “questioning
his integrity and moral justification to remain as the Minister of
Power.
Among other issues the union raised, it accused Nnaji of the
appointment of “his kinsmen, classmates and others to key sensitive
positions like Bulk Trader, Market Operator, CEOs and others. To
buttress our position, we challenge Nnaji to respond to the issues as
here understated.
N280million collected from PHCN allegedly for Nigeria Army;
N200million collected from PHCN allegedly for Unknown Projects in the
Power Ministry;
N86m collected from PHCN allegedly for Bullet Proof Vehicle;
N3million allegedly collected from PHCN and donated to Enugu State
University of Technology (ESUT) and employment of 20 people in Enugu
Zone of PHCN who are his kith and kins as staff two years after the
closing date of casual employment and close of PHCN biometrics
exercise. All these were allegations waiting to be dealt with or proved
by the unions before the resignation of Nnaji.
It added that “Until these issues are addressed the Union will
continue to press for accountability and probity. We insist that proper
investigation must be conducted on PHCN before any form of privatization
is carried out.”
The confrontation between Nnaji and organised labour in the
nation’s electricity sector dates back to 2006 when the workers, under
the umbrella of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE,
clashed with Professor Barth Nnarji over alleged unfair labour practices
in Aba Power Ltd.
He was accused of using outlawed Bakassi boys to harass and
intimidate union officers.
Speaking on NUEE confrontation with the former Minister, Comrade
Ajaero, said “As Adviser to the President on Power, he had
irreconcilable differences with the workers and earned the unenviable
mark of recording the highest number of industrial crisis in the Power
Sector which was never the case before his appointment”.
Since the build up to the privatization of the PHCN, the unions and
the government have not been able to settle the issue of Gratuity,
Pension and the Superannuation fund.
Before his appointment, the unions had made it clear that But in a
strongly worded statement on behalf of Professor Nnaji after the
resignation, the former minister made it clear that he had put in his
best in the service of his country, insisting that posterity would judge
if indeed, he served well or did not.
In fact, Nnaji made bold to explain that his resignation was a
sacrifice meant to protect President Jonathan from elements seeking ways
to ambush his presidency.
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