Edo Govt Distances Self From Blackout

Edo State has been thrown into darkness for days, but government and Ossiomo Power have given conflicting explanations for the blackout.

Director General of the Edo State Electrification Agency, Saturday Omozokpea Egbadon, in a statement, dismissed claims that the state was responsible for the shutdown of Ossiomo Power.

He stressed that the plant was not owned or managed by the government and that the shutdown was never communicated to authorities.

“What we are experiencing is as a result of internal issues between Ossiomo Power and their partners, and not caused by the government or electricity consumers,” Egbadon said.

He, however, assured residents that efforts were being made to protect consumers from unnecessary hardship.

In a counter statement, Ossiomo Power admitted the outage was due to a “major technical issue” within its generation facility.

The company’s Deputy General Manager, Francis Ekwe, disclosed that equipment had already been procured and was being installed to restore supply.

“We humbly appeal to our customers to bear with us as the new equipment, when fully installed, will enhance performance in generation, transmission and distribution,” Ekwe said.