PHCN Rakes In N19bn In Ibadan

The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) of the PHCN says it realised N19.1 billion in revenue between January and November this year.

Presenting the figure while addressing visiting members of the House of Representatives Committee on Power, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Bolaji Oyesikun, said the November revenue, totalling N2.1 billion, was the highest in the 11 months of revenue generation.

Oyesikun said that November had the highest revenue generation “despite the labour strike and on going biometrics exercise’’ being undertaken by the PHCN in preparation for the eventual privatisation of the company.

He said the IBEDC, which had 19 business units covering Kwara, Ogun, Osun, Oyo and parts of Niger, Ekiti and Kogi, was a wide distribution company in terms of geographical network among the 11 distribution companies of the PHCN.

To sustain the generation of huge revenue, Oyesikun urged the lawmakers to assist the company through enacting enabling legislations and approval of funds.

Oyesikun said the stoppage of meter maintenance fee by the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission had reduced substantially the revenue for funding the distribution companies.

“An alternative means of regular funding of all distribution companies is desirable if the substantial gains made in power supply in the country is to be sustained and even improved upon.

“The 2011 budget though very small compared to our needs should be fully funded and by interpolation, the Federal Government should please extend the budget year ending to March 31,  2012’’, Oyesikun said. He urged the legislators to add the sum of N200 million into IBEDC 2012 capital appropriation to enable the company complete its permanent site which had been under construction at Bodija area of Ibadan for nearly 18 years now.

In his response, Chairman of the committee, Hon. Patrick Ikhariale, commended the IBEDC for the huge revenue it generated and urged it to sustain the tempo.

He, however, noted with dismay the non-completion of the permanent site of the IBEDC, saying it showed the lack of seriousness of past chief executives of the company.

Ikhariale said that getting extra funds approved for the completion of the building might be difficult in the face of the impending privatisation of the PHCN but promised to assist the company in finding alternative means of funding with the scrapping of meter maintenance fees.

Ikhariale appealed to PHCN workers nationwide to dispel the impression that privatisation would translate to loss of jobs and  argued that the exercise would even bring the workers better deals and wages as the new investors would likely use their expertise for many years to come.

The legislators were later taken on tour of some PHCN facilities in the area.