Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration in Ekiti State has rejected the proposed plan by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to put the state in blackout for nine hours daily for two months effective from July 1.
The government said that the planned power outage amounts to unacceptable economic, financial and social price to be paid by the citizens of the state.
The TCN and BEDC had in notices, announced that TCN’s schedule to carry out critical maintenance work on the 132kV Akure/Osogbo transmission line which would involve the installation of Optical Ground Wire and other activities requiring outage on the affected network for safe working space.
TCN and BEDC had stated that the maintenance would be between July 1 and August 31 and that there would be power outage in Ondo and Ekiti states for nine hours from 8am daily throughout the two-month period.
But, the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utility, Prof Bolaji Aluko said that the government was not informed nor was approval sought and obtained from the Ekiti State Electricity Regulatory Bureau, saddled by law with the authority to regulate the electricity industry in Ekiti State.
In a letter written by the Commissioner for Public Utility, Mobolaji Aluko, to the MD/CEO, TCN, the MD/CEO, BEDC and the Chairman, NERC Abuja, dated 30 June, the commissioner consequently called for the immediate suspension of the plan.
He also called for an emergency meeting with the regional heads of TCN, BEDC and National Electricity Regulatory Commission on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in his office in Ado Ekiti “to devise an alternative and far less adverse plan to achieve the same stated aims”.
The letter reads: “Our attention has been called to public notifications, both in print and in jingles in English and in Yoruba, of the intention of BEDC under advice by TCN to disrupt power supply to the transmission stations in Akure and Ado-Ekiti – and in effect to adversely affect the Ekiti State and Ondo State areas – for nine hours each day (8.00am to 5.00pm) from July 1, 2024 to August 31, 2024.
“We request prompt attention to this matter while we are eager to work collaboratively toward a sustainable solution that will benefit both citizens of the state and the Ekiti State Electricity Supply Industry.”
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
