...Wamako Alleges 17 Million Fraud
THE Governor of Sokoto, Alhaji Magatakada Aliyu Wamako, on Friday, accused Power Holding Company of the Nigeria (PHCN) workers of defrauding the State Government of the sum of N17 million naira, just as the electricity workers threatened to go on an indefinite strike unless the Governor tender an unreserved apology and pay compensation for ordering assault against three members of staff of the PHCN.
The workers appealed to the people in the state not to blame them, but rather hold the governor responsible for any eventuality from the outage that may follow the strike action.
The PHCN workers said in a statement issued in Kaduna yesterday, that the one-week ultimatum given to the governor to apologize for his action against the electricity workers had expired.
The situation has now prompted the union to ask its members to embark on strike if the governor still failed "to pay compensation and tender an open apology for his action".
The electricity workers accused Alhaji Wamakko of allegedly whipping Engineer Moses Osigwe, the Business Manager of Gwiwa Business Unit of PHCN; and two other staff – Mallam Isyaku Daura and Nuruddeen Mohammed after accusing them of being responsible for the failure of two SMVA transformers serving his hometown, Wamakko.
In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media to the Governor, Mallam Sani Umar, to The Guardian, he chastised the PHCN workers for extorting money from the state.
He said, "a fraud has been committed for which a management level staff of PHCN is culpable and must be addressed. No amount of blackmail would delete or diminish to magnitude of the fraud and the state has already commenced legal proceedings on the matter".
He concluded that "the governor owes nobody an apology".
