photo credit-guardian news, nigeria.
Electricity Distribution Company (IBDEC) Ibadan branch informed the Osun State House of Assembly yesterday that the five-month power outage in the state's Ife North Local Government Council was caused by a defective power transformer that would cost N90 million to replace.
The Regional Head of Osun IBDEC Mr Akin Ogunleye, claimed that the distribution company had done its best to resolve the power outage, believing that the issue was within its capabilities, until it discovered that a whopping figure of N90million, which the company can't pay, would be necessary.he added that due to a lack of funds, the business is unable to assume full responsibility for restoring electricity to the impacted villages in the local government at this time.
"When we first learned about the power loss, we assumed it was a simple problem that we could fix," he explained, "only to discover that the transformer's coil had gone faultythe price we got for the transformer repair was approximately 28 to 35 million Naira; however, experience has shown us that it is preferable not to fix but to replace with a new one, which would cost over 90 million Naira, which IBDEC cannot afford."
Following a motion by Hon. Lekan Olatunji regarding the power outage in Ife North Local Government Council, the Osun House of Assembly summoned the Managing Director of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company IBDEC, the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), and the Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Commission (FCCPC) last week.
Hon. Timothy Owoeye, Speaker of the Osun State House of Legislature, stated that the state assembly could not continue to stand by and watch while the people of the state were thrust into darkness without finding a sustainable solution to the problem.the House of Assembly, according to Owoeye, will not abdicate its constitutional responsibilities by permitting people to be robbed of their constitutional rights to electricity and meaningful existence.
"It is a well-known fact and legislation that it is not the duty of the energy customer or community to acquire, replace, or repair electricity transformers, poles, and associated equipment used in the distribution of power," he continued. Hon. Lekan Olatunji has already emphasized the necessity of energy as a vital public resource that every person should have access to.
Olatunji criticized the IBEDC of inadequate service delivery, claiming that it has upset numerous communities in the local government, forcing them to rely on self-help.he went on to say that, despite private businesses taking over power distribution, they were only concerned in invoicing and collecting tariffs, not in providing or repairing the infrastructure needed to produce the tariff.it is a big step forward in restoring electricity in Ife North State Constituency and resolving the energy distribution company's unacceptable attitude toward the residents of our state," he added.