Nasarawa State governor Abdullahi Sule yesterday visited the management of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), to convey the complaint of consumers in Lafia, the state capital on the shortage of power supply and high tariffs.
The governor said two major issues brought him to the AEDC head office in Abuja namely the shortage of power supply in Lafia, as well as the estimated billing system, which is making consumers pay through their nose for energy consumption.
He described it as really amazing that Lafia consumers now have the worst power supply even with the Akurba power substation working, with some consumers having less than four hours power supply daily.
“We were thinking that with the Akurba substation and that we have been moved to Band A, we should be getting at least 20 hours daily. I’m a witness because I use the same power, there are some people in Lafia getting somewhere between two to three hours daily,” he stated.
“The problem is that because we don’t have meters, we are now getting high rates. People who used to pay anywhere between N4,000 or N5,000 now pay N20,000. They have the worst power supply after we have the substation. They have nobody to blame other than AEDC,” he added.
The governor decried a situation where consumers in Lafia could take to the streets in order to register their grievances over the power situation, stressing that his administration will do everything necessary in order to sustain the relative peace across the state.
“When the matter came to me first, I told them not to worry, that any time I am in Abuja, I will visit the AEDC. In Nasarawa so far, we have been lucky to have a peaceful state and I will do anything possible to maintain it that way. But when people become agitated and I am their servant, I will take the opportunity to go all the way to ensure that the matter is addressed,” he stated.
Governor Sule used the opportunity of the visit to plead with the AEDC management to provide meters for consumers in the state, which will go a long way to address the issue of estimated billing.
“I want to plead with you on the meter, to see the possibility of people getting meters. That way people will pay what they consume. Which is fair in life. If you do that the people are willing to pay for the power they consume,” he said.
Sule informed the AEDC management that his administration bought over 200 transformers last year, while also spending another N500million to bring electricity to the area housing the newly constructed federal secretariat that will be commissioned next month by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He advised the company to see to the rehabilitation of the small power substation located along Shendam Road, which has been down for a long period, adding that, if rehabilitated, the substation will help the DisCo to shed some of its load.
The managing director/CEO of the AEDC, Engr. Adeoye Fadeyibi, directed for the supply of meters to Nasarawa State starting from next week. While thanking the governor for the visit, Fadeyibi said the company will look into the issues raised during the visit.
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