Nigerians in several cities including Lagos have been hit by a “double-whammy” of fuel scarcity and electricity outage, leaving millions struggling to keep up with their daily activities and businesses. But, in its jurisdiction, Eko Electricity Distribution Companies promised to improve its power supply to residents.
To attain this, the management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company has continued working on plans to provide 20 hours uninterrupted daily electricity supply to its customers.
EKEDC Managing Director, Dr. Tinuade Sanda, has always sung this song and it’s like an anthem in EKEDC.
She said, “We want to work towards ensuring a minimum 20 hours electricity supply as we continue to get electricity from the power grid. Installation is still ongoing and we have done 80 out of 150. We are moving closer and closer to our consumers. We tend to decentralize more so that our consumers can reach us”.
Erratic Power supply has a long history in Nigeria, with some scholars submitting that it is buried deep down the scheme of things in Nigeria; aided by corruption. Some say a few factors affecting the erratic power supply in Nigeria include the government’s inconsistent and misguided power reform policies; inefficiency in power generation, transmission, distribution and consumption; and the incompetent work force of the energy companies. Recommendations towards solving the erratic power supply problem were proffered.
Some DisCos have attributed the persistent poor supply to the load shedding by the Transmission as a result of power generation.
For instance, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, one of the DisCos based in Lagos, had apologized to its consumers, stating via its Twitter handle, “We apologized for the persistent power supply you have been experiencing in some parts of our network. This is due to load shedding by the Transmission as a result of power generation.
“We regret the inconvenience this has caused and wish to assure that we are engaging the responsible stakeholders in the Electricity value chain to improve the situation.”
However, this lofty feat can not be attained if Nigerians don’t desist from owing DISCOs. This is as EKEDC also revealed that it is owed over N116 billion as at December 2022.
The poor power supply may persist across Nigeria, especially in 2023, due to the cankerworms that have eaten deep into the fabrics of the nation’s power sector.
Also, going by industry statistics, some of them are gas-related issues, which has affected the country’s power generation.
Dispatch of the generated electricity remains elusive as transmission and distribution bottlenecks are frequently blamed for the capacity to wheel power to end-users.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company, in tackling bottlenecks affecting erratic power supply within its jurisdiction, has asked customers to report any fraudulent activity perpetrated by staff of the company to the appropriate quarters for attention.
Customers of Eko DisCos, with the efforts of the company, are reassured of its commitment to them.
EKEDC will continue to listen and provide solutions to challenges and complaints raised by customers.
Remember that, like none other, EKEDC has been responsive with the feedback it gathers on its services. With this, the management determines where it is getting it wrong.
“Our goal is customer satisfaction which we believe can be achieved through productive dialogue and engagement.”
He explained that the company had explored partnerships that have improved power supply in the area, citing the agreements with Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Paras Energy, and other embedded generation options as examples of initiatives aimed at boosting power supply to its customers”, Sanda once said.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial team of TheScript Newspaper
