Edo State Government has said that over 195 communities across the 18 Local government Areas of the state are yet to be connected to the national grid.
The Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon., Comrade Philip Shaibu, made the disclosure during an interactive forum with electricity customers in the South-South Region organized by an Ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives in Benin City.
Comrade Shaibu noted that the interim report of a special committee set up by the state government to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the state of power supply showed that 55 communities were disconnected for alleged indebtedness to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), adding that 219 transformers required replacement.
The Deputy Governor who was represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Kingsley Ehigiamusor lamented that while no community enjoyed electricity supply for more than eight hours a day, the debt owed by electricity consumers in the state stood at N6,470,543.98.
He explained that 128 communities had been disconnected due- to issues bordering on faulty equipment, which required rehabilitation, pointing out, “this interactive session is very germane and most timely considering the huge outcry by electricity consumers all over the country, particularly in Edo State.”
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