President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the sack of the management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
The president also ordered the immediate appointment of a new interim governing board to oversee the day-to-day operations of the electricity distribution company.
The actions were taken in response to the recent industrial action embarked on by AEDC workers over non-payment of arrears of pensions, allowances, salaries and promotion totaling about N41 billion.
LEADERSHIP reports that the sack of the management team conveyed by the presidency to the Federal Ministry of Power takes immediate effect.
The minister of power Aliyu Abubakar and the minister of state power, Goddy Jedy Agba, had yesterday intervened through dialogue with the ministry of labour, Bureau of Public Enterprise, and the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) to resolve the issues and end the 14-hour strike which had plunged the franchise areas of the AEDC into darkness the previous day.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Nasarawa, Kaduna and parts of Edo states suffered total blackout between 6am to about 8pm on Monday following an industrial action by the staff of AEDC.
The presidential directive has also directed the Bureau of Public Enterprises to set up a new management team of the AEDC.
However in a memorandum of understanding jointly signed by the minister of state for power Goddy Jedy Agba, the chairman Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission NERC, Sanusi Garba, director-general Bureau of Public Enterprises, Alex Okoh, Comrade Joe Ajaero, on behalf of the union, the federal government ordered the suspension of the strike and gave 21 days within which the outstanding emoluments and entitlements of staff will be paid.
Government has described the non-performance and incompetence of the AEDC as a national embarrassment, saying the suspension of the management team subsist until further notice.
The members of staff of the company commenced the industrial action across their franchise areas on Monday.
Comrade Godfrey Abah, FCT Council chairman of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) said the strike was to drive home the demand for the payment of their 2020 bonus and other entitlements.
They are also demanding the remittance of pensions deducted by the company to their Pension Fund Administrators. They alleged that the remittances have not been made for the past 19 months.
