By Chijioke Kingsley
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JED), has reeled out its achievements since the new Managing Director, Engr. Abdu Bello Mohammed took over office and even as the 2024 calendar years drew to an end.
Amongst its lists of achievements, staff welfare tops the list, signifying motivation for moral boosting of staff performance, Mohammed told the National Union of Electricity Employees, who paid a courtesy call to his office, recently in Jos.
“Management decided to deliberately enhance staff welfare with the belief that it would spur them to higher productivity”, he told Comrade Adebiyi Opayemi, the President of the National Union of Electricity Employees.
Reeling out his achievements, Mohammed said: “Less than two days after assuming office, I was able to resolve the impasse between Jos JED and the Benue State government which culminated in locking the company premises in Benue by the State Inland Revenue Service.
“As soon as I assumed office and was told that all our offices in Benue State were sealed by the Benue State Revenue Service and because of that our staff have nowhere to operate from, I rushed and met the then Governor of Benue State, and the offices were immediately unsealed.
“Also, less than a week after taking over the responsibility as the Chief executive Officer, I promptly confirmed that no fewer than 121 staff whose fates were hanging due to non-confirmation.
“Management under my watch promoted 1,600 staff who had stagnated for up to ten years.
“Others, he said, were over 30 staff who were specifically promoted on account of productivity during the Employee Award Night”.
According to him, the promotion, advancements, and recognition were done within the parameters of staff motivation to spur them to higher productivity.
Enhanced welfare packages including palliatives, payment of bonuses to staff and exit benefits to former staff who even exited the company long before his arrival, were also listed, our correspondent said.
“In fact, I was very disturbed by the non-payment of exit benefits to our former staff. It is not good. Some of them are living in penury, and if they place curses on us for not paying them their money, it will not be palatable to anyone standing as a stumbling block”, he said.
Challenges
Explaining the company challenges. Mohammed said that the company found it difficult to achieve its goals due to financial constraints.
According to him: “As a result of government policy that Discos must pay 100% for its energy offtake and the inability of the Discos to live up to expectations, the monthly opex expenditure requirements have been drastically reduced to 50%, which is too meagre to effectively run the company.
“After paying our salary from the opex allocation which is 50%, we are left with almost nothing to run the company”, he said.
He, therefore, called on the National leadership of the union to help in talking to the relevant authorities to help review upward the opex allocation to Discos.
In his remarks, the Chief Operating Officer, Alhaji Mammanlafia Umar, who extolled the importance of unionism in corporate performance, urged the national leadership to help sensitize their members to achieve higher productivity to enable the company to meet its goals.
He said that when the company does well, the staff would be the first to benefit from all the anticipated welfare packages without hesitation.
Responding, Opayemi applauded the Managing Director and his team for orchestrating robust welfare packages for the staff.
He, however, urged the Managing Director and his Management team not to be derailed from the already established welfare policy, stressing that the Management should continue with its collaborative spirit as partners in progress.
“We are partners in progress. What we found here today shows that we are progressing, and that shows that you are a good leader”, he told the Managing Director and his team.
The president further appealed to the management that despite the promotion done so far, Management should kindly identify hard-working staff and further encourage them, adding, “We have come here to support you and collaborate with you, but we will not condone corruption from any staff”, he said.
