Ogun Residents Decry Month-Long Power Outage

Electricity consumers in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, have bemoaned a month-long poor power supply in spite of improvement in power generation nationwide.
The consumers told newsmen that hours of electricity supply by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) had reduced in the last one month.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) recently wheeled out over 4,500 megawatts of electricity to 11 distribution Companies (DISCOs) as gas distribution improved slightly.
President of Lions Club in Ogun, Mrs. Funmilayo Ajogbasile described the near black-out situation in the state capital as unfortunate and dehumanizing.
“It is unfortunate that we are experiencing this blackout; I thought the new government will bring us out of the doldrums but it appears we are being plunged deeper into darkness by the DISCOs.
“It is so bad that you cannot buy food items in bulk and store in the freezer to save cost in this harsh economy; government should overhaul the power sector and get rid of clogs in the wheel of progress as well as assist the DISCOs to replace old equipment.
“The directive of the Minister of Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, is not being complied with on the installation of pre-paid meters for all houses by the DISCOs because they make more money from estimated and crazy bills they give consumers”, she said.
A former Chief Press Secretary to Ogun Governor, Mr. Wole Elegbede, also bemoaned the situation, suspecting sabotage by the relevant DISCO in supplying electricity to its consumers in Abeokuta in spite of improvement in power generation.
“There is no value for the money we pay for electricity not supplied, it is very unfortunate that the privatization of the power sector by the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan administration has not improved power supply.
“In the past three weeks or more, power supply has really deteriorated that we can only boast of light for five hours in a week.
“The government should do something urgently to ensure stable power supply at least for eight hours daily on rationing basis in line with its change mantra”, he said.
A retired school principal, who identified of himself as Ajogbasile, suggested that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) should establish offices in all the 36 states for easy access by electricity consumers and to attend promptly to consumers’ complaints.