Kwara State House of Assembly has given the management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) a week ultimatum to improve on its services in the state.
The legislature issued the ultimatum when senior management staff of IBEDC who were summoned appeared before the House committee on Energy at the assembly complex in Ilorin, the state capital.
LEADERSHIP reports that most residents of Ilorin, especially those in the downtown area have been in total darkness for more than two weeks, without any cogent reasons from the electricity company.
The residents, especially the fasting Muslims have to contend with the excruciating heat, day and night since there was no electricity for their domestic use.
The House had on 19th March, 2024 raised a motion on the need to address the poor service of IBEDC and curb the alleged extortionist tendencies of its staff in the state.
It then resolved that the committee on Energy under the chairmanship of Hon. Seun Ogunniyi should invite the senior management team of IBEDC to address the issues raised on poor electricity supply and distribution in the state.
Consequently, IBEDC management was invited last Monday to address the committee.
During their appearance before the legislators, the management staff of the electricity company were upbraided on their poor service delivery and its effect on the economic and social well-being of the residents of the state.
The committee demanded improvement in electricity service delivery and on other pertinent issues bothering on power supply in the state, including low energy allocation to the state and the consequential load shedding, unavailability of pre-paid meter and the need to ensure electricity consumers have access to meters and outrageous estimated billing to customers.
The legislature also demanded from IBEDC a demonstrative commitment towards the repair of malfunctioning transformers, restoration of public confidence and the need for them to ensure good community and stakeholders relations
The IBEDC management was mandated to revert to the House committee on Energy within one week, with actionable plans to address the issues raised.
The management of IBEDC, had in a statement on March 10,2024 advanced reasons for the poor power supply in Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara, Kogi, Niger and Ekiti states.
It blamed the poor power supply to the aforementioned states on the upsurge in energy theft with over 1,450 identified cases of energy theft between January and February 2024.
