The former workers are demanding a comprehensive review of the severance package paid to them, including full settlement of all outstanding contractual and statutory entitlements; buy-off of unexpired years of service for long-serving staff; payment of withheld pension contributions with statutory penalties; remittance of outstanding tax deductions; payment of the 2025 bonus; monetised medical compensation for health hazards suffered in the course of duty; refund of all unlawful union deductions; and additional compensation reflecting loss of career progression and the realities of structural unemployment in the power sector.
Disengaged employees of Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) have rejected the company’s response to their formal demand for a review and enhancement of exit compensation, describing it as evasive, unserious and emblematic of deeper institutional decay within the power utility.
The former workers are demanding a comprehensive review of the severance package paid to them, including full settlement of all outstanding contractual and statutory entitlements; buy-off of unexpired years of service for long-serving staff; payment of withheld pension contributions with statutory penalties; remittance of outstanding tax deductions; payment of the 2025 bonus; monetised medical compensation for health hazards suffered in the course of duty; refund of all unlawful union deductions; and additional compensation reflecting loss of career progression and the realities of structural unemployment in the power sector.
They also want full payment of promotion benefits for staff issued promotion letters but denied corresponding salary implementation for several years.
The affected workers, represented by P. H. Ogbolé, SAN & Co., said AEDC’s reaction fell far below what is expected of a company confronted with grave legal and social claims from nearly 800 former employees.
They faulted the company for responding through an email rather than a formally acknowledged letter bearing an official stamp or receipt, a move they said underscores AEDC’s lack of seriousness, accountability and respect for due process.
According to them, the mode of response further validates concerns earlier raised by their legal representatives about AEDC’s approach to industrial relations and statutory obligations.
In the email dated January 29, 2026, AEDC acknowledged receipt of the workers’ demand dated January 21, 2026, and asked for more time to “review” the issues raised, without committing to any clear or definite timeline for resolution.
The email read in part: “We acknowledge receipt of your correspondence dated January 21, 2026, on behalf of your clients, the former employees of Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC).
“Please be informed that management has duly received and is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the contents of your letter. We appreciate the detail and specificity of your submissions and recognise the importance of addressing all the issues raised therein.
“To accomplish this, we need time to conduct a thorough and constructive review of the issues raised by your clients. We will respond once our assessment is complete and aim to provide a detailed reply within a reasonable time frame.”
The disengaged employees said the “open-ended response” mirrors the same arbitrariness with which about 800 staff members were laid off late last year without justification.
They alleged that the disengagement was carried out under a purportedly non-justiciable agreement said to have been entered into with a compromised in-house union, an agreement they described as riddled with loopholes and deliberately exploited to enable victimisation.
They further claimed that the process failed to specify the number of staff to be affected and was executed without any stakeholders’ meeting, despite the fact that many of those disengaged still had several years left before retirement.
“This sector is already notorious for structural unemployment. To throw out experienced staff without justification or consultation is not only cruel but economically reckless,” one of the affected employees said.
Beyond their personal grievances, the former staff accused AEDC of operating with impunity, arguing that the same culture of incompetence and disregard for due process evident in their disengagement is what customers within the company’s franchise area have endured for years.
They cited persistent poor service delivery, widespread estimated billing and unresolved consumer complaints as evidence of systemic failure within the company.
Unimpressed by AEDC’s response, the workers, through P. H. Ogbolé, SAN & Co., said they are mobilising for immediate legal action, insisting that the company’s failure to provide a definite timeline confirms bad faith.
They warned that the impending lawsuit, to be filed at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, would go beyond compensation claims, as they intend to expose internal practices and alleged under-dealings within AEDC that they claim would “shock the Nigerian polity” once proceedings commence.
Industry observers say the looming legal battle, being driven by senior labour counsel, P. H. Ogbolé, SAN, could reopen uncomfortable conversations around labour rights, corporate governance and regulatory oversight in Nigeria’s privatised power sector, which is already under intense public scrutiny.
For now, the disengaged workers insist they will no longer wait indefinitely.
“The courts will decide,” one source said. “And Nigerians will finally see how this company really operates.”