Ondo State youths, under the auspices of Akoko Concerned Youths (ACY), have decried the persistent power outage in the four local government areas of Akokoland, urging their illustrious sons and daughters to come to the rescue.
The Coordinator of the group, Mr. Adedotun Olomolatan, in conjunction with National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), addressed a press conference in Akure yesterday, accusing their leaders of non-committal attitudes.
The areas affected included Akoko North West, Akoko North East, Akoko South West and Akoko South East councils, in the North Senatorial District of the state, believed to be owing BEDC N34m debts.
Olomolatan disclosed that the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) charged its 17, 000 customers in the area the sum of N28m to defray their debts and put in place the necessary infrastructure to restore power.
Nonetheless, he noted that some BEDC customers have responded to the N2000 BEDC charges per house, and a total of N11.4m has been generated at the moment, leaving a balance of 11.6m after an agreed 20 percent discount by the company.
He lauded the senator representing the district, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice for donating the sum of N5m to alleviate the financial burdens on the people, while Mr. Bamiduro Dada paid for Ikun community in Akoko South West council.
The Coordinator expressed disappointment at the indifference of their political representatives to their plights, lamenting that most of them ride expensive cars whose worth can offset the debts while none of the four councils has reached its 80 per cent benchmark.
The youths insisted that all indigenes of the area must attend the upcoming town hall meeting slated for May 29, 2017, themed: “Bring Back Our Light” to discuss issues that border on electricity and the general development of the areas.
It would be recalled that the Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has appealed to the management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company to resolve the issue of prolonged power outages in almost half of Ondo State.
Addressing the visiting Management Staff of BEDC in his office in Akure, Governor Akeredolu said his administration was no longer comfortable with the fact that five Local Government Areas in Ondo South Senatorial District and four Local Government Areas in Ondo North Senatorial District have been living in darkness for between two to five years.
He said the issue had to be seriously addressed and therefore suggested metering individual consumers within the communities as a permanent solution to the problem of indebtedness to BEDC.
The managing director and chief executive officer Of BEDC Mrs Funke Osibodu, however, promised that power will be restored in some communities in Akoko soon.
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