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Power Minister issues 21 day ultimatum to ASCA oil to remove plant

Minister of power Professor Barth Nnaji has given ASCA Oil 21 day ultimatum to relocate its bitumen plant located on top of the gas pipeline … Continue reading Power Minister issues 21 day ultimatum to ASCA oil to remove plant


Minister of power Professor Barth Nnaji has given ASCA Oil 21 day ultimatum to relocate its bitumen plant located on top of the gas pipeline at the Sapele Power Plant.

Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji

The Minister gave the ultimatum during a visit to the power plant. He expressed dismay that the Belgian Company could construct a bitumen plant above a gas line on a land it leased from the PHCN and still obtain a court order restraining the government from acting against it.

Professor Barth Nnaji, who also had to address protesting workers at the Ughelli power plant where he had gone to commission one of its refurbished units stressed that government has no plan to withhold their pensions or severance packages but will pay them in full despite the failure of the PHCN management to fulfill their pension requirement.

After last week’s strike by PHCN workers, the Minister and other key officials of the Ministry including the Minister of State and the permanent secretary visited the Ughelli and Sapele power plants to move ahead with the privatisation plan.

The entrance of the plant was however barricaded by unions of the plant denying the Minister entry.

The union members were protesting the alleged Pension Act that will earn them less than their colleagues in other ministries.

The union members also demanded that their severance packages be paid in full. They also consented to the ongoing privatisation process of the power sector

The minister explained that the problems they were facing was due to the insincerity of the PHCN management in the past but that government was determined to ensure workers get a good deal and so has decided to pay them in full.

The ministry officials later gained entry into the plant where the minister commissioned a refurbished plant.