Alleged N16.5bn Debt: PHEDC Plunges Bayelsa In Darkness

The power outage in Bayelsa State occasioned by the lingering face-off between the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) and the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) has entered its 10th day.
The IYC had on December 23, besieged the offices of the PHEDC and forced the staff to ground operations, occupying the premises to protest perceived poor power supply to residents.
The development, which resulted in a total power outage in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital, and its environs has compelled residents to rely solely on generators with a resultant increase in petrol demand.
Filling stations in Yenagoa have been struggling to cope with a large number of residents who thronged the stations to buy fuel in jerry cans.
It was learned that efforts and talks to resolve the logjam hit a brick wall as the power company claimed that it was grappling with a debt burden of N16.5 billion as of November 2019 which had hampered its operations as a commercial concern.
However, the IYC has challenged the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) to substantiate its claim that customers in Bayelsa owed N16.5 billion.
Chairman of the IYC central zone, Mr. Kennedy Olorogun, who spoke on the update of the dialogue convened by Bayelsa government to resolve the impasse said the debt claim was a ‘fairy tale’ to cover up incompetence.
According to him, “information from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) showed that there was sufficient power at the substation at Gbarain, Yenagoa but the PHEDC was not taking the power to homes.
An investigation shows that TCN on August 20, 2019, announced the lifting of a Suspension Order from the electricity market is placed on the PHEDC on July 27, for breach of ‘Market Conditions/participation Agreement.
According to the TCN notice available on its portal, the lifting of the sanction was a regulatory measure to ensure that distribution companies evacuate available power.
TCN said lifting the sanctions followed PHEDC’s compliance and took effect on August 19, 2019.
The PHEDC and TCN had been shifting the blame on the poor power supply in Bayelsa, with TCN, saying that the PHEDC was unable to take up available power at its substation while the PHEDC allege that it was not getting enough power from the TCN’s grid.”