The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene in the prolonged non-payment of benefits owed to 47,000 disengaged workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
In a statement issued on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, MURIC’s Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, described the affected workers as victims of Nigeria’s poor reward and labour justice system, lamenting that their entitlements have remained unpaid for over a decade.
According to Akintola, the former PHCN staff, writing under the platform of the United Ex-PHCN Staff Forum 2025, disclosed that they were owed 16 months’ salary arrears before their disengagement following the privatisation of the power sector.
He recalled that the Federal Government had, in 2011, constituted a committee chaired by labour leader, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu, to address labour issues arising from the privatisation exercise. However, the committee’s report was never implemented.
Instead, Akintola noted that a fresh agreement titled “Agreement in Respect of Labour Issues Affecting Staff of PHCN” was signed on December 11, 2012, involving the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, representatives of the Ministries of Labour and Power, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and labour union leaders, including Joe Ajaero and Dede Okpara.
The agreement reportedly covered eight critical issues, including payment of exit benefits, gratuity, death benefits, settlement of 16 months’ salary arrears, post-retirement training, allocation of 10 per cent equity shares, and resolution of non-core assets in power stations. Despite these commitments, MURIC said none of the benefits has been fully paid.
Akintola further revealed that circulars reaffirming the agreements were issued in 2017, including one signed by the Director-General of BPE, yet the obligations were allegedly abandoned and redirected to labour unions.
Condemning what he described as a breach of solemn agreements by government authorities, Akintola warned that such actions erode public trust and contradict both Islamic and Christian teachings on economic justice and workers’ rights.
He cited Qur’anic injunctions and biblical references that emphasise prompt payment of workers’ wages, stressing that withholding workers’ entitlements amounts to grave injustice.
MURIC also expressed concern over the humanitarian consequences of the prolonged non-payment, stated that many of the former workers have died, suffered serious illnesses, or watched their children drop out of school due to financial hardship.
The organisation urged the Federal Government to act swiftly, warned that the nation’s economic and social challenges may be linked to systemic injustice against the poor and vulnerable.
MURIC reaffirmed its commitment to advocating for oppressed Nigerians and called on authorities to honour inherited liabilities alongside acquired assets from the privatisation exercise.
