Ekiti govt laments poor power supply

The Ekiti State government Friday lamented that poor power supply has crippled its economic activities.

The Commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, said the situation was worrisome, negatively affecting the people’s lives and commercial activities.

Faparusi, who briefed newsmen in Ado Ekiti, said the government and Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) have renewed commitment to tackle cases of vandalism of electricity installations and other challenges for improved power supply.

The commissioner had already signed the new pact with the management of BEDC Electricity Plc at a meeting in Benin City, Edo State.

“The kernel of any government is to provide business opportunities for the citizens. And to do this, power supply is key. The growth of small and medium scale enterprises is determined largely by quality of electricity supply.

“We have identified areas of challenges and we are ready to provide enabling environment for business to thrive by waging war against cases of vandalism of electricity installations, encouraging our people to pay their bills and ensure that access to uninterrupted power supply is enjoyed in the state”, Faparusi said.

The BEDC Managing Director, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, on her part, posited that the major hindrance to transmission of adequate power to Ekiti State was litigation against the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on the right of way along Igbara Odo and Ilara Mokin axis in Ondo State, resulting to a stalemate in the upgrading of network facilities.

She added that BEDC Electricity Plc had approved over 100 projects in its bid to support and grow economic activities in Ekiti State.

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“We are faced with the issues of vandalism of electricity installations and thieves tampering with network with poor payment culture by customers.

“Some customers still viewed power supply as social service. They see it as a national cake and power supply accessories are expensive and all the towns and villages can only be reached when they pay their bills. Payment remains the best catalyst that can help our company to do more.”

The managing director urged Ekiti citizens to make themselves available during the enumeration exercise scheduled to kick off in three weeks’ time, saying the exercise was key to the proposed distribution of meters to all households for accurate measurement and effective billing.

The BEDC boss appealed to Ondo and Ekiti governments to intervene in the pending litigation serving as encumbrance to expansion in order to fast-track the process of network upgrade for increased power supply to Ekiti State.

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