MUSLIM RIGHTS CONCERN (MURIC)
هيئة حقوق المسلمين
Motto: Dialogue, Not Violence
14th January, 2026
PRESS RELEASE:
WHY ARE DISENGAGED
NEPA STAFF STILL UNPAID SINCE 2013? - MURIC
47,000 former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria
(PHCN) whose benefits have not been paid since 2013 have taken their case to
the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) for intervention.
According to the Executive Director of the human rights
organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola who addressed the issue on Wednesday,
14th January, 2026, the 47,000 ex-staff of PHCN are direct victims of Nigeria's
poor reward system. He appealed to the Federal Government (FG) to intervene.
His full statement reads:
"47,000 former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of
Nigeria (PHCN) whose benefits have not been paid since 2013 have brought their
case to our headquarters for intervention.
“Writing under the aegis of the United Ex-PHCN Staff Forum 2025, the PHCN
ex-staff lamented how they were owed 16 months salary arrears before being
disengaged. They recalled several meetings held with relevant authorities and agreements reached with all relevant parties.
“According to them, the Federal Government set up a committee on the matter
in 2011 to address labour issues arising from the privatization exercise. The
committee was chaired by Comrade Hassan Sunmonu but its report was not
implemented. Instead, a new agreement titled ‘Agreement in Respect of Labour
Issues Affecting Staff of PHCN’ was signed on 11th December, 2012.
“The new agreement was signed by the Secretary to the Federal Government
with representatives from the Ministries of Labour and Power, the Bureau
of Public Enterprises (BPE) and key union leaders including Joe Ajaero and Dede
Okpara.
“Among the items listed in this agreement were eight key items.
These included payment of exit benefits, gratuity, death
benefits, settlement of 16 months’ salary arrears, post-retirement training,
10% equity share, and the resolution of non-care assets in power
stations. Despite the agreement, the benefits remain unpaid to date.
“More circulars were issued, one was signed by Joe Ajaero and another
by the Director General of BPE on 24th October, 2017 (Ref: BPE/EP/UMUN/002/17) reaffirming
these commitments. Yet, BPE reneged on these agreements, redirecting them to
the unions.
“MURIC condemns the
attitude of Nigerian authorities who breach agreements solemnly reached with
workers. It leads to lack of public trust in government enterprises. It also
smirks of lack of the fear of Allah. These officials are either Muslims or
Christians but their faith do not reflect in their attitudes.
“Economic justice is one of the cardinal teachings of Islam. The
Glorious Qur’an commands prompt and adequate payment of workers. It warns that
workers’ dues and benefits ‘should not be withheld from them...’ (Quran 11:85).
The Qur’an also lays emphasis on the need to fulfil obligations (Qur’an 17:34
and 23:8).
“In the hadith, Prophet
Muhammad (SAW) advocated prompt payment of workers (Ibn Majah) when he said ‘Pay
the worker his wages before his sweat dries.’ Yet here are 47,000 ex-staff of
PHCN who toiled day and night for the company. They were owed 16 months’
arrears (which means their sweats had dried on their faces already). How can
Allah be pleased with those in charge?
“This is the plight of
Nigerian workers. They are overworked, overtaxed but underpaid. Sometimes they
are not even paid at all. This is the evil in capitalism. It is a fake drug
administered by phoney doctors. It also exposes the Archile’s heel of
democracy, weak, compromising, loose at all ends.
“Deuteronomy 24:14-15 commands paying labourers daily before sunset
because they are poor and they need it. In James 5:4 the Bible says the cries
of exploited workers reach God. It says inter alia, ‘Look! The wages you
failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The
cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.’ According
to Romans 4:4 and 1 Timothy 5:18, a worker's wage is an obligation, not a gift.
“Since their disengagement, the 47,000 ex-staff of PHCN have dwindled
in number. Some had stroke. Others suffered the trauma of watching their loved
ones in the pangs of pain with no money to take them to the hospital. Many of
their children dropped out of school. We have no doubt that their cries have
gone to God.
“MURIC jogs the collective conscience
of those who inflict pain on the poor, those who milk the masses dry and still
go to the mosque or church. Allah is waiting. You may think it is far but Allah
says it is near (Qur’an 70:6-7).
“We in MURIC will continue to stand by the hoi polloi, the
oppressed people of Nigeria. We will give voice to the voiceless, hope to
the hopeless. We will sow eschatological fears in the hearts of economic extortionists,
those who inherit the assets but deny the liabilities.
“Before
we stop hitting the keyboard, we appeal to the Federal Government to quickly
intervene. The calamities facing this country may not be unconnected with the horrible
sins the wealthy and powerful commit against the poor. Perchance we will
receive a listening ear and the Merciful and Beneficient will lift the cordon
off the land.”
#PHCN
#Pay47000ExStaff
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).
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