Business
BPE Dissociates Self From Ex-PHCN Workers’ Verification … Says No Ongoing Verification
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), says it is not conducting another verification exercise for the defunct staff of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) as is being circulated in some quarters.
A statement issued by the Head, Public Communications, BPE, Amina Othman, made this clarification yesterday in Abuja.
She also said that the organisation was not in any way connected with the purported verification by a certain group and warned those concerned to be very careful.
“It must be noted that each time the bureau carries out verification of former staff of the defunct PHCN, adequate publicity is carried out with the involvement of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity And Allied Companies (SSAEC).
“However, in the purported verification by the group these are absent.
“BPE wishes to dissociate itself from the purported verification and warns all former staff of the PHCN and general public to beware. To be warned is to be forearmed,” the statement said.
The BPE said its attention had been drawn to attempts by a group of former staff of the defunct PHCN to link the bureau to a purported verification exercise for the disengaged staff of the entity, and had circulated various correspondences to their members in that regard.
According to it, the correspondences are captioned: “BPE-Notice To All Disengaged Staff Of Ex-PHCN Staff.”
It noted that the correspondence was written in poor English Language, and that the group represented by one NdiweOkechukwu requested former staff of the company to visit designated venues in the country with relevant documents and a processing fee of N1,000 each.
The statement quoted part of the correspondence to the former staff of the company.
“Due to the secrecy of our meetings and struggle towards getting our unpaid claims, it is advised that those to fill the expected form should come to the various designated venues with their particulars as prescribed.
“No one is expected to be allowed to make a photo copy of it. Be it a blank or completed copy. This is for strict compliance please.
“BPE released 10,000 forms to be shared for all the zones across the nation and the beauty of it is that the form has a security number and the form must be returned as hard copy with the requirements stated therein above and as such should not be photocopied.
“And after the first 10,000 has been processed and payment will commence on it there after another 10,000 will be released as above until they finished the whole 48,000 staff.”
Our correspondent, reports that PHCN was privatised in 2013, which eventually resulted in the unbundling of PHCN and the establishment of power Distributing Companies (DISCOs) across the country.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
