EEDC, Enugu house of assembly fight over electricity bills
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company has said the ‘quit notice’ issued to it by Enugu State House of Assembly was an attempt to stop the company from going ahead with plans to recover debt from the Enugu State Government.
Enugu State House of Assembly had, on March 31, ordered the electricity distribution company to shut down its operations and vacate Enugu.
The lawmakers, in the same breath, passed a ‘vote of no confidence’ on EEDC over epileptic power supply, alleged ‘outrageous billing’ of consumers, and non-supply of pre-paid meters.
The legislators, who also called for the declaration of ‘a state of emergency’ on power supply in Enugu, went ahead to direct electricity consumers in the state to, henceforth, stop paying bills for ‘power they did not consume’.
Members of the house of assembly equally directed the management of EEDC to appear before the House.
They urged other states in the South-East to declare a state of emergency on the activities of the electricity distribution company.
However, reacting to the development, EEDC chairman, Sir Emeka Offor, said the lawmakers decided to incite the public against the company because of huge arrears of electricity bills owed by Enugu State Government.
The EEDC chairman, who addressed journalists, suggested that the action of the lawmakers was prompted by the company’s recent efforts to recover the debt from the state government.
According to him, Enugu was EEDC’s biggest debtor among the five states in the South-East, where the company operates.
Offor said the vote of no confidence was part of a plot to blackmail the company in a bid to stop it from recovering the debts.
He said, “Very recently, the Enugu State House of Assembly passed a vote of no confidence on us and this is a state that is owing the EEDC the sum of N2.6bn.We feel that this is unfair.
“The problem started few weeks back, when we demanded that Enugu should pay its debt. The government promised to pay N100m pending when the account is reconciled, we agreed but after three weeks, they never paid.
“We had no option than to cut their power supply.
“Last Friday, we met with the governor, he promised to pay N100m and subsequently pay N200m before the end of April.
“While the meeting was going on, we learnt that the lawmakers were at the same time sitting somewhere passing vote of no confidence against us.
“It is very unfortunate that they took such step.
“Enugu government is our biggest debtor among the five South-East states.
“Imo has been paying their bills; Abia, Anambra and Ebonyi have been paying their bills. Only Enugu is not paying, we now cut them off and they started blackmailing us.”
Offor warned that EEDC would hold the lawmakers responsible if the company’s workers were molested while carrying out their legitimate duties.
Source: Punchng
The lawmakers, in the same breath, passed a ‘vote of no confidence’ on EEDC over epileptic power supply, alleged ‘outrageous billing’ of consumers, and non-supply of pre-paid meters.
The legislators, who also called for the declaration of ‘a state of emergency’ on power supply in Enugu, went ahead to direct electricity consumers in the state to, henceforth, stop paying bills for ‘power they did not consume’.
Members of the house of assembly equally directed the management of EEDC to appear before the House.
They urged other states in the South-East to declare a state of emergency on the activities of the electricity distribution company.
However, reacting to the development, EEDC chairman, Sir Emeka Offor, said the lawmakers decided to incite the public against the company because of huge arrears of electricity bills owed by Enugu State Government.
The EEDC chairman, who addressed journalists, suggested that the action of the lawmakers was prompted by the company’s recent efforts to recover the debt from the state government.
According to him, Enugu was EEDC’s biggest debtor among the five states in the South-East, where the company operates.
Offor said the vote of no confidence was part of a plot to blackmail the company in a bid to stop it from recovering the debts.
He said, “Very recently, the Enugu State House of Assembly passed a vote of no confidence on us and this is a state that is owing the EEDC the sum of N2.6bn.We feel that this is unfair.
“The problem started few weeks back, when we demanded that Enugu should pay its debt. The government promised to pay N100m pending when the account is reconciled, we agreed but after three weeks, they never paid.
“We had no option than to cut their power supply.
“Last Friday, we met with the governor, he promised to pay N100m and subsequently pay N200m before the end of April.
“While the meeting was going on, we learnt that the lawmakers were at the same time sitting somewhere passing vote of no confidence against us.
“It is very unfortunate that they took such step.
“Enugu government is our biggest debtor among the five South-East states.
“Imo has been paying their bills; Abia, Anambra and Ebonyi have been paying their bills. Only Enugu is not paying, we now cut them off and they started blackmailing us.”
Offor warned that EEDC would hold the lawmakers responsible if the company’s workers were molested while carrying out their legitimate duties.
Source: Punchng
EEDC, Enugu house of assembly fight over electricity bills
![EEDC, Enugu house of assembly fight over electricity bills]()
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April 15, 2017
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