Business
Blackout: PH Women Storm PHED Office
About 300 women residing at Tankoro Polo, also known as, Baptist Waterfront in Old Port Harcourt township, staged a peaceful protest to the offices of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED), on Aggrey Road over lack of power supply to the area, last Monday.
The women, led by the women leader of the community, Mrs Crystal Tamuno, accused the management of PHED of issuing residents exorbitant bills despite the one month total blackout experienced in the waterfront.
Tamuno claimed that last year, they contributed money to buy a transformer for themselves after efforts to make PHED replace their old faulty transformer failed.
According to Tamuno, “we have not had light for almost one month. We contributed N2.8 million to buy a transformer last year July after being in darkness for three months and PHED refused to give us a new one.
“We negotiated with them to count our building and tell us how much each house-hold would pay, but they said they would rather give us bulk bill, which we did n’t understand and so we rejected it, but they went ahead a put a machine in the transformer which they said would help us. We later found out that machine is what they call bulk meter”, she continued.
She lamented that, to their surprise, PHED brought “a bill of N3.4 million for February and N2.2 million for March”.
Tamuno stated that the community wanted PHED to remove the bulk meter installed in their transformer and to bill them house-by-house, “we want the removal of the Bulk meter installed in our transformer, we want to pay house-by-house”.
Meanwhile, the spokesman of PHED, Mr John Onyi, has presenting bills to the waterfront community for services not rendered. “The bill that was given to them was based on meter reading and I tell you categorically they are owing over N500 million”, and encouraged them to pay for the electricity they have consumed.
Onyi also denied claims that the community contributed to buy a transformer, saying, “it has always been the duty of PHED to replace transformers”.
However, a staff of PHED who spoke to The Tide, on condition of anonymity, noted, “they gave them bulk bill, but when the bill came it was so high that they refused to pay, so since January till now they’ve not got light, PHED then disconnected them”.
Our source went on to say, “it was the light committee of the community that negotiated with PHED that they need bulk bill and they put energy billing meter on the transformer”.
Tonye Nria-Dappa
“Payment of tuition fees for undergraduate/postgraduate studies shall be subject to a maximum limit of $25,000.00 per semester,” the Manual states.
The expansion of international card limits also reflects growing confidence among lenders that foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough to support retail dollar transactions.
Speaking recently at the BusinessDay 14th Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, CBN Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN said buying and selling activities now increasingly determine outcomes in the foreign exchange market, unlike in the past when market participants relied heavily on routine Central Bank interventions.
According to Cardoso, Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have risen from just over $3 billion at the start of the reform programme to more than $40 billion, while gross reserves have climbed to about $52 billion, providing stronger confidence for investors and enabling the Central Bank to reserve interventions for periods of market stress rather than day-to-day liquidity management.
The restoration and expansion of international naira card spending limits are increasingly being seen as one of the clearest signs that the benefits of the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are beginning to reach households, students and businesses making legitimate cross-border payments.
The Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, WEC, Dr Angela Wilkinson, disclosed this in a statement, last Thursday.
“Nigeria’s participation comes at a pivotal time as the country seeks to expand energy access, strengthen energy security, accelerate gas development and mobilise the capital required for industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
“WEC Nigeria will convene leaders from across the energy ecosystem, apply the WEC’s globally recognised Energy Trilemma framework to Nigeria’s unique context, and promote evidence-based dialogue, practical collaboration and informed policymaking.
“It will also ensure that Nigerian and broader African perspectives contribute meaningfully to global energy conversations,” she said.
Wilkinson expressed confidence that Nigeria would play a significant leadership role at the World Energy Congress scheduled for Riyadh in April 2027 and beyond.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of WEC Nigeria, Isa, as describing the country’s participation as an opportunity to deepen national and African leadership within the global energy community through practical solutions tailored to regional development priorities.
He said the platform would promote collaboration across sectors and attract sustainable investments into Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of WEC Nigeria, Wunti, was quoted in the statement as saying that the council would connect leadership, evidence and investment to build a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.
“This system will be capable of driving economic growth and shared prosperity.”
According to him, the platform will also connect Nigerian institutions and businesses with international knowledge, technology, partnerships and investment opportunities through the World Energy Council’s global network.
Recall that WEC, founded in 1923, is the world’s oldest independent and impartial community of energy leaders and practitioners, advancing informed, collaborative and practical action across the global energy system.