The Edo state Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole has lamented that members of the state House of Assembly have less than four hours of electricity daily in their residential areas.
The Governor, who made this known when he met with the management of BEDC at the Government House, warned that the low power supply by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, to Edo State poses a threat to the security of lives and properties in the state.
According to him, “There are a couple of concerns. Sometimes, we have seen some protests, some violent reactions and obstructions and stories about properties being stolen and vandalized; and every day, I am confronted with protests by various communities who are in the dark: either their transformer is not working or it has broken down.”
“There are bills people are paying even without light; or they are being over-billed based on estimates as they have no meters.”
“Even the House of Assembly has just spoken to me that they need to spend some money to set up a sub-station that will give more regular power supply. Right now, they are getting less than 4 hours a day in their residential area. That is an arm of government. They have made a request for a substantial investment for us to provide part of the cost in a distribution chain, and when we provide that and they have access to power, how do we get our refund?”
“Recently, the Commissioner of Police wrote to me that the Police Headquarters is in the dark, and that is a serious issue because in the Police Headquarters, we have cells where there are inmates. And of course, you have offices. Police is 24 hour operation.”
“Now out of desperation, I have to buy, using tax payers’ money to provide a transformer to the Police Headquarters.”
“I mentioned this because we used Edo people’s money to buy transformer, and you told me now that they have power. Now, what happens when you generate bills?” Oshiomhole asked.
Reacting, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BEDC, Funke Osibodu explained how the company shares electricity for consumers amid difficult power generation.
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