Follow Us on Google
Paul Osuyi, Asaba and Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Irked by the continued blackout in Yenagoa, members of the Bayelsa House of Assembly, have moved against the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) by investigating its activities in the state.
The House at its plenary resolved to summon PHEDC management, commissioner for Power and the special adviser to the governor on Power over the blackout the state has been experiencing since May.
Yenagoa and its environs have been thrown into darkness since May while the PHEDC has not been able to offer any concrete explanation on the epileptic situation of its operations.
Mietema Obordor (Ogbia constituency 1) in a motion to investigate the poor electricity supply, wondered why Bayelsans should be in darkness and pay for darkness.
The lawmakers were in support of the motion and wondered why PHEDC will only provide power for few hours at the end of month just for the purpose of collecting bills from Bayelsans.
Lawmakers said there was need for every house in Bayelsa to be metered so that Bayelsans would only pay for the light they consumed.
On the issue of the Imiringi gas turbine, Obordor canvassed its revival so that it could serve Bayelsans who were willing to pay if there is light.
Similarly, residents of Asaba, under the aegis of Young Nigerians Right Organisation, yesterday, ignored the directive of the Delta State Police Command as they embarked on a protest against poor services of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) across some streets of the state capital.
The command had unsuccessfully attempted to stop the protest on the grounds that it might be hijacked by hoodlums to cause mayhem.
But the protest, which commenced with the mobilisation of residents to the Inter Bau flyover, was peaceful.
The placard-bearing protesters marched through Anwai Road, and had a brief stop over at the Asaba office of BEDC before marching to Government House, where they were addressed by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s Chief of Staff, David Edevwie.
Coordinator of the rights group, Victor Ojei lamented the lack of electricity in Asaba and its environs, saying BEDC lacked the capacity to deliver on its mandate.
He said the company has continued to extort consumers with outrageous estimated bills for non-supply of electricity, and called on the Federal Government not to renew its operational licence.
Ojei said the company has deliberately refused to maintain facilities which it inherited from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), pointing out that consumers now take it upon themselves to fix faulty BEDC equipment or even provide new ones.
Kingsley Okpuno said communities have resorted to selfhelp by contributing to provide transformers, lamenting that BEDC refused to install such transformers on grounds of accumulated bills.
Addressing the protesters, Edevwie assured that their grievances would be channeled to the appropriate quarters for action, and advised them to remain law-abiding in their activities.
Meanwhile, Head of BEDC in Delta State, Fidelis Obishai, had at the peace meeting convened by the state police command, assured that the company will investigate allegations of extortion, and urged consumers to pay bills in order to get improved services.
The House also passed a motion moved by the leader of the House, Monday Bubou Edwin Obolo (Southern Ijaw constituency2.) to investigate the illegal sand dredging along the Nun River and Ikolo River at Ogbogolo town in Yenagoa council and the need to stop illegal dredging because of the environmental and ecological problems attached to the sand dredging around this community.
The lawmakers mandated the House Committee on Environment, chaired by Ebi Ben Ololo representing Nembe constituency 1, to investigate the matter and sand dredging sites around the entire state.
