Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Friday, passed a vote of no confidence on the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC.
They, therefore, declared a state of emergency on the power company.
The development followed a motion sponsored by Hon. Chinedu Nwamba representing Nsukka East Constituency, alongside 22 other members of the House.
This is coming at a time hundreds of residents have occupied the Assembly complex, insisting that the EEDC must exit the State.
In a special sitting, the members unanimously rose in condemnation of the distribution company, with some lawmakers declaring that the EEDC was more dangerous than rampaging herdsmen.
The lawmakers, in the motion, descried the EEDC’s current billing system as day-light robbery, stating that for every one unit of power, Enugu was overpaying with N10 and N13 when compared to Abuja and Lagos, respectively.
The House not only declared a state of emergency on the EEDC, it also asked it to vacate the State forthwith since it was not ready to do business in line with international best practices.
The House also urged the Enugu State Government to liaise with the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to validate the quality of pre-paid metres being installed in the State to ensure that its setting was commensurate to the unit of consumption.
The lawmakers, while mandating the EEDC to start doing business in line with international best practices, equally urged the residents of Enugu State to stop paying for electricity bills they did not consume.
The Enugu Assembly called on the other Houses of Assembly in the South-East to go ahead and declare the State of emergency on the EEDC, as its alleged fraudulent activities were affecting the entire zone.
All the lawmakers who contributed to a debate on the motion lamented that the EEDC was using the new pre-paid metres as well as its estimated billing system to dupe residents.
In a remark, Speaker of the House, Hon. Edward Ubosi noted that the situation created by the EEDC was affecting all the residents of the State.
“You have said it all; a robust debate; I saw people voicing out their hearts; they are obtaining by tricks; their conduct is likely to cause breach of peace; what they are doing amounts to digital fraud; we say enough is enough”, Ubosi declared.
The House thereafter set up a 6-man committee to be chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Ubosi, with Hon, Nwamba and four others as members.
The committee is to hold a 3-day public hearing at the three senatorial zones of Enugu State. They are to invite any person whose input is considered needful to tackle the problem.
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