The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) and the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) at TCN have lauded the management of TCN for not extending the appointment of Chris Okonkwo, a General Manager the national president of the SSAEAC, who was appointment at TCN since 2014.
A joint statement signed by the Regional Branch President of SSAEAC-TCN, Ibrahim Mohammed and the Chapter Chairman of NUEE, TCN headquarters, Chris Adah, said Okonkwo who was GM Special Duties, was not duly transferred to TCN but was on political appointment for six years.
It said: “Notwithstanding, he had proven to execute so poorly so much that TCN Management kept managing him and post him to other departments to see if he could deliver to no avail.”
The unions mentioned various lapses under Okonkwo’s reign as the national president of SSAEAC saying he divided SSAEAC and promoted sentiments, too TCN Management and fellow union members to several courts for different reasons.
The unions said: “He must render accounts of his stewardship. He must account for our check offs remittance over the years. TCN would enjoy peace and tranquility for enhanced productivity in the power sector.”
SSAEAC TCN Branch also pledged its unalloyed support to work with the current Management of TCN, our sister Union NUEE, Ministry of Power and Ministry of Labour and Productivity towards the power sector improvement.
The Managing Director of TCN, Mr Usman Gur Mohammed, in a signed letter dated 24th April 2020, has directed that the General Manager, Special Duties at TCN, Engr. Chris Okonkwo stopped coming to work as his posting to TCN from the Ministry of Power in 2014 had lapsed for nearly two years.
Okonkwo in a response letter signed on 11th May 2020 said he was not ‘appointed’ in 2014 because he was a career and core power sector staff with continuous service year of 20 at that time.
However, Okonkwo said: “My appointment was in the line of my competence and contributions in the defunct PHCN.”
“My letter of Appointment/Promotion being in furtherance of my service, did not carry term or tenure of service since subject to Civil/Public Service Rule of 60 years age or 35 years length of service bar,” he noted.
Axxela attains 5m LTI-free man-hours milestone Axxela Limited, a gas and power portfolio company, has achieved five million man-hours without any Lost Time Injury (LTI) across its operations.
The milestone, according to the company’s Corporate Communications Officer, Busola Ogunleye, was attained on May 1.
LTI is a measure of injury sustained on the job that prevents a worker from performing or continuing with a task or resulting in downtime in operations.
It is an oil and gas industry benchmark that evaluates adherence to safety and environmental requirements in the course of operations, and is a critical Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for Axxela’s conformity with the industry’s best practices.
Speaking on the safety milestone, Bolaji Osunsanya, Axxela’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are proud to celebrate Axxela’s advances in safety performance.This safety mark underscores Axxela’s unwavering commitment to health and safety best practices across all facets of our enterprise.
‘’Our integrated Environment, Health, Safety and Quality (EHSQ) management strategy revolves around operational excellence, stringent safety processes, high standards, strict compliance, comprehensive training, capability building, and vigilant monitoring.
Building on our four million LTI free man-hour record achieved in 2018, we are excited about this new accomplishment, and are already working towards the next ground-breaking milestone.
Safety is firmly entrenched in every aspect of our business and I must commend our managerial and operational teams, along with our partners and contractors for their relentless efforts in upholding our robust safety guidelines.”
Achieved over eight years, the five million LTI-free man-hours is comprised of operation time in the 12″x128km Eastern Horizon Gas Company pipeline traversing Akwa Ibom and Cross River States (divested in 2014); the 12.15 megawatts (Mw) Akute Power Plant Project (divested in 2016); the Gas Network Services Limited Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Mother Station (a 5.3 million standard cubic feet, mmscfd CNG plant); the 10.4 Mw Alausa Power Plant Project (divested in 2017); the 12″x8.5km GLIV gas pipeline project taking gas from Ijora to the Marina in Lagos State; the 12″x 8.5km Central Horizon Gas Company pipeline expansion project from Trans-Amadi through the greater Port Harcourt area; the installation of Eight CNG Daughter stations across Southwest Nigeria; and commencement of a 12″x 120km gas pipeline project in Sagamu, Ogun by Transit Gas Nigeria Limited.
Axxela’s EHSQ Manager, Uche Okpala, attributed the remarkable feat to the dedication of employees and contractors to ensuring an incident-free work environment.
He said: “This new safety record is indicative of company-wide adherence to our Occupational Health and Safety standards in line with (ISO 45001:2018).
While we are elated, our vision remains zero accidents to our employees, contractors, customers, suppliers and host communities, and continued collaboration with our stakeholders to maintain a safe environment for all.”
In 20 years of delivering innovative energy solutions to the Nigerian and West African markets, Axxela has built and maintained a safety culture supplemented by a rigorous EHSQ management system for monitoring, evaluating, and reporting performance.
Axxela holds monthly EHSQ meetings and yearly EHSSQ Day to deepen awareness and strengthen an incident-free work culture.
The company is also the first organisation in the country to achieve and hold a trifecta of Integrated Management Systems: Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2015), Environmental Management System (ISO 14001:2015), and Occupational Health & Safety (ISO 45001:2018), he added.
