The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has refused to appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions following a petition by Ohafia communities in Abia State that have not had electricity in their communities for over three years.
The company is accusing affected communities of indebtedness to the tune of N2bn, an amount the communities said they never consumed. In seeking redress the communities approached the House of Representatives for intervention.
An invitation was earlier sent to EEDC to make appearance on 7th of March, 2024 which was not honoured.
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Member representing Arochukwu/Ohafia Fed. Constituency, Hon. Ibe Okwara Osonwa in a statement on Wednesday said a fresh invitation letter has been sent to EEDC requesting that it representatives appear before the House Committee on 16th of April, 2024
“Following the non-appearance of EEDC to the public petitions hearing on the 7th of March, 2024, a further letter has been written to the EEDC from my office and copied to the Chairman of the Committee on Public Petitions, His Excellency Deputy Governor of Abia State, NERC, Ohafia L.G.A. Council of Chiefs, Ohafia Connect (the Petitioner), Ohafia Improvement Union (OIU), Nkporo Development Union (NDU) and Abiriba Communal Development Union (ACDU) reaffirming my position on the issue and outlining the obligations of EEDC to the aggrieved Communities”, he stated.
In giving further update on what is being done to ensure that power is restored to the affected communities, the lawmaker said further consultation and meetings have been held between him and NERC through the Commissioner of the South East to find a lasting resolution to this impasse.
He said, “He assured me of his tireless work and affirmed that EEDC was summoned by NERC and have been told to work toward resolving all issues impeding the supply of power to Ohafia L.G.A. and report back to them within a stipulated time.
“A meeting was also held on the 26th of March, 2024, with a group Executive of EEDC’s parent Company of which I invited a couple of Community leaders in Abuja to attend. This meeting was fruitful to the end of solving our issues and outlining the challenges EEDC is facing. I reconfirmed the resolution of the Ohafia L.G.A. Council of Chiefs that was sent to them in a letter they all signed. EEDC confirmed that once our commitment is redeemed they will invest in serving all transformers in readiness to transmit power, Restore power, Carry out on audit/reconciliation of the aforementioned debt of N2.1b, Work towards provision of prepaid meters to the residents of the Communities”.
The lawmaker while thanking the affected communities for their patience assured that in no distant time, the issues will be resolved and power restored.
