Chairman, Akoko-Edo Local Government Council, Hon. Tajudeen Alade Suleman Esq. has met with personnel of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Ibillo Station and stakeholders from Ibillo community over lingering issues surrounding the billing system, tampering with transformers, among other contending issues.
The Chairman, who was represented by Hon. Emmanuel Yamah, Secretary to the Local Government, restated the government’s commitment in ensuring that the local government area enjoys stable power supply and a peaceful co-existence among its people, adding that he would continue to put in maximum effort in improving every sector of the area.
He noted that he hit the ground running on his assumption of office, nine months ago, to address the lacuna associated with epileptic power supply, noting that all grey areas identified were tackled with utmost professionalism.
Hon. Alade explained that his administration has paid utmost attention to security in order to ensure that kidnapping becomes a thing of the past in the local government, adding that his vision for the local government area was one that had prosperity and sustainable development in the front burner.
The Chairman, who emphasized on the symbiotic relationship between players in energy sector and the host communities, opined that Nigerians were mindful of the fact that there was a recent tariff increase in electricity distribution by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which he noted the NLC vehemently resisted, calling on them to maintain status quo and interface with the community on modalities for paying the new rates.
Hon. Alade further requested BEDC to reconnect transformers that had been disconnected and the host community to tender an apology for switching on the RMU themselves. He therefore urged BEDC to treat host communities with respect and provide a billing system convenient for the service providers and the host communities to forestall crises, while requesting for security to man facilities in order to protect them from vandals.
He also appealed to the community to withdraw an earlier petition written against BEDC personnel, advising BEDC accredited casual workers to operate within the company’s regulations to guarantee absolute peace.
On his part, the BEDC Service Manager, Mr. Ayenuben Isaiah, said the bone of contention was the community’s refusal to come to a roundtable on their invitation for the enforcement of the new billing arrangements even after being put on notice, expressing displeasure over switching on of the transformer by locals.
Also speaking, the Mains Engineer, Mr. Francis Okoli said staff were under constant reprimand by its employers for low collection that was not in tandem with the amount of energy consumed, stressing that Ibillo was enjoying estimated billing arrangement.
Mr Okoli explained that payment was structured based on the level of consumption, stating that those who were feeding from 33 KVA were billed five thousand naira monthly, while those on 1.2 KVA were charged three thousand naira, pointing out that maximum demands was on industrial consumers, explaining that he reported the issue to the Local Government Council Chairman to proffer a permanent solution to the log jam.
Meanwhile, Chief Raphael Ade Olorunda suggested that Mains Engineers should be prepared to stay in their host communities to be able to respond to issues as they emerge, while calling for the posting of erring staff.
