The Ekiti State government as described as totally unacceptable, the proposed 2-month power blackout, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) say is needed to conduct routine maintenance on some of its infrastructure.
In a letter from the state commissioner for Public Utility, Mobolaji Aluko, to the Managing Director (MD)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the TCN, Abuja, the MD/CEO, Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), Benin-City, and the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Company (NERC), Abuja, dated 30 June, he said no direct notification/communication was made to the state government.
The letter, titled, Re: Notification of power disruption/outage in Ado-Ekiti and Akure for two months (July, August 2024) for nine hours each day (8.00am to 5.00pm), read: “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 effect to adversely affect Ekiti and Ondo State areas – for nine hours each day (8.00am to 5.00 pm) from 1 July to 31 August, 2024.
“No direct notification/communication was made to the Ekiti State Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Utilities (MIPU) on this matter, nor was approval sought and obtained from the Ekiti State Electricity Regulatory Bureau (EKSERB), saddled by law with the full authority to regulate the electricity industry in Ekiti State.
“The planned disruption of electricity for three-eighths of each day for sixty-two days, amounting to five hundred and fifty-eight hours (558) total and twenty-three days of outage in these two months amounts to an unacceptable economic, financial and social price to be paid by the citizens of Ekiti State, and we totally reject such a plan.”
The commissioner, therefore, requested an emergency meeting with all stakeholders scheduled for July 2, 2024, to discuss alternative measures.
Trust TV had reported the TCN and BEDC’s original notice and noted many customers expressed dissatisfaction regarding the incident.
