Communities Seek Govt. Intervention Over Power Outage

Residents of Omuo Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State have decried the disconnection of the area from the national grid by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) calling on the state government to come to their aid.

Speaking to journalists yesterday in Ado Ekiti, a community leader, Mr. Adegbuyi Ayodele said over fifteen communities in the local government, including some villages have been living in darkness for over one year thereby paralyzing their businesses and making life difficult for residents.

Some of the affected towns listed by Ayodele included Omuo, the council headquarters, Kota, Ilada, Eda- Ile, Isinbode, Araromi and Ikun Ekiti among others.

He added that several artisans who rely on electricity to power their machines are now finding it difficult to cope with life as their sources of income had been negatively affected due to the blackout.

According to him, several artisans who rely on electricity to power their machines are now finding it difficult to cope with life as their sources of income had been negatively affected by the blackout since February 2016.

He further stated that the problem was made worse as  street light erected by the state government on the recently dualised road in Omuo Ekiti which currently serves as the only succor in  the community was being powered from the palace generator.

He said when approached for explanation on the sudden cut in power to the entire local government communities for over a year now, the authorities of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, demanded for the payment of N78m being  unpaid bills allegedly incurred during the pre- privatisation of the power sector but which was inherited by the new power managers as liability.

He claimed that the crisis was made worse as street light put in place by the state government on the recently dualised road in Omuo Ekiti which currently serves as the only succor left for the community was

Reacting to the development, the BEDC Public Relations Officer in Ekiti State, Mr. Kayode Ilorin Brown, said some towns in the state owed backlogs of electricity bills to the company.

According to him, the BEDC would serve them better if all communities owning the company can pay their bills.