The Federal Government is set topay 1,669 former employees of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) their severance packages thisweek.

The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, who spoke through his Chief of Staff, Prof. Chidi Onyia, saidthat those who had been cleared would be paid at nine designated centres across the country.

Some of the workers had over the weekend staged a protest at the headquarters of the defunct power company in Abuja and alleged that the government had not paid the severance benefits of about 8,000 employees of the firm 14 months after the successor companies of PHCN were sold to private hands .

The minister noted that the number of those who should have been paid from thisweek was about 2,400, but explained that only 1,669 had been validated.

He also stated that the BPE’s Implementation Committee on payment of PHCN terminal benefits was set to release a timetable for the payment of the severance benefits.

Nebo said the committee, which also has representations from the ministry and from the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, had handled all issues regardingthe workers’ verification and had drawn up a check-list for all beneficiaries to bring to the various designated centres.

According to him, President Goodluck Jonathan has directed the handlers of workers’ severance package to be diligent in the validation processes as the government does not want to pay ‘ghost workers’.

From Daily Independent