The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) has debunked claim that it is owing the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading, (NBET) for energy distributed to her customers in July as speculated by some media.
The Manager, Corporate Communication of PHED, John Onyi who disclosed this last weekend while reacting to some media publication that Kano and Yola Distribution Companies did not remit money in June and the list of zero perfomers grew to three in July with Port Harcourt, Kano and Yola not remitting a total of N7.9billion.
Onyi explained that the report was misleading and capable of sending wrong signals to her stakeholders and customers, stressing that her company signed mandate for instant transfer for the payment before 30th September deadline  but surprised that the newspaper could not cross-check and verifiy her reports from the PHED before going to the press.
He noted that the payment of July energy was made 20 days before the publication, claiming that the publication was targeted at tarnishing the image and good work of the distribution company.
He warned journalists to always cross-check their facts before going to the press and maintained that PHED had been outstanding in its payment of energy bills to NBET as stipulated by law.
According to him,’’For the avoidance of doubt, a duly signed mandate for instant transfer for the said payment in July was presented to our bankers on 28th September 2017 prior to 30th September2017 being the deadline for the payment. It was acknowledged immediately as always the case for such instruction’’
“It is therefore, surprising that the newspaper that prides itself as one of the leading newspapers in the country did not cross check facts with PHED for the purposes of objectivity before the referenced publication, 20 days after the payment was made’’, he said.
Onyi advised journalists to always cross-check their facts before publication as he give the newspaper not The Tide the opportunity to apologise to the firm or make a retraction of the story.