Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says it will compel the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to comply with it directive of July 10, 2017 to reconnect some communities in parts of Ondo South back to the national grid.
Vice chairman, Sanusi Garba disclosed this while addressing protesters drawn from civil society groups in Delta, Edo, Ekiti and Ondo States at the commission’s headquarters on Thursday in Abuja.
Garba who was in company of top management staffs noted BEDC flouted the directive issued to the company to “immediately” restore power back to consumers in Okitipupa, Irele, Ilaje and Ese Odo local government areas of Ondo state, after 10-years without electricity.
“The issue of Ondo south has to do with enforcement. BEDC has not obeyed the order of the commission.
“I want to assure you on behalf of the commission that we will immediately dust up all the papers, and make sure the right thing is done”, the Vice chairman told the activists.
Recall the commission had after a meeting with stakeholders from the area in July 6, 2017 directed the company to reconnect the affected communities, especially consumers disconnected based on commercial issues.
The activists led by Leftist Omobude Agho had faulted the nation’s electricity regulatory body over it refusal to sanction BEDC for flouting the directive.
“NERC gave a directive to BEDC to reconnect us back to the national grid, BEDC disobeyed and NERC did not do anything”, a member of the Bring Back Our Light (BBOL) group in Ondo State, Akinsuroju Banjo told the Garba-led team in Abuja.
Banjo however said he thanked the BBOL team for not relying on NERC directive alone for the power restoration as he said other efforts through the federal government have begun to yield result.
Though he lamented the slow pace of repairs of electrical facilities in Ode Aye town and Igbokoda community under Okitipupa and Ilaje LGAs of Ondo State.
He appealed to the federal government not to deceive the people of Ondo South as he said the job is going on with lot of delay tactics.
Other members of the BBOL team who spoke at the meeting, Omopariola Dare, said the group will not hesitate to implement its threat of closing down Omotosho power plant if discover that federal government wanted to lure the people of the senatorial district to participate in the up coming 2019 election and later stop the repair.
However, NERC assured the people that BEDC will be forced to obey its directive whether the repair has been handled by federal government or not.
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