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Obaseki walks BEDC MD out of his office for throwing state into
darkness
● …tells House of Reps delegation that Edo doesn’t want a
‘failed, unserious’ DISCO
There was mild drama at the office of the Edo State Governor,
Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday, as the governor walked the Managing
Director (MD) of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC),
Mrs. Funke Osibodu, out of his office for failing to meet
obligations to electricity consumers in Edo and throwing the state
into darkness for weeks.
This happened when the governor received members of the Federal
House of Representatives Committee on Power led by Hon. Daniel
Asuquo, who were in Government House, on a courtesy visit.
The governor was surprised to see the BEDC boss, whose name was
not on the list of expected guests to Government House, but
embedded herself in the National Assembly delegation, to gain
access to the governor, who has been in darkness alongside millions
of Edo State residents, for weeks.
Speaking to the delegation after Mrs. Osibodu had left the
gathering, the governor said BEDC has continued to fail in
collaborating with the state government to provide stable
electricity in the state, instead the company has posed as an
obstacle to meeting the goal.
“BEDC has been an obstacle all the way. They will not provide
electricity and will not allow you to get alternative sources of
power. The state will not allow it,” the governor said.
According to him, “As Governor of Edo State, we have lost
confidence in BEDC. We don’t want them here. We are in darkness.
Let us remain in darkness until we find people who are capable of
delivering electricity. This is our position.”
The governor said despite the fact that the state generates
about 600 to 700 megawatts of electricity, the people are still in
darkness, wondering how he is expected to explain the irony to the
people, who are well aware that they produce a substantial amount
of electricity in the country.
He noted that BEDC has failed to recognise that they have to be
patriotic and responsible to the state and the country but instead
they have been noncommittal about the issue of power
distribution.
“To assist, we set up electricity committee across the local
government areas chaired by the Deputy Governor of the state, Rt.
Hon. Philip Shaibu, with BEDC as member to understand the
challenge. But BEDC frustrated our resolve to finding a lasting
solution to the issue of providing electricity to our people.”
Earlier, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on
Power, Hon. Daniel Asuquo, said they were in the state for an
oversight function on the activities of BEDC and other players in
the electricity value chain.
He said Edo State consumes half of daily power supply under the
BEDC, noting that the state has the highest number of consumers on
the network, which makes it critical to engage with the governor
and people of the state on the level of service delivery by players
in the value chain.
“We are here to see how to intervene to ensure that you deliver
on your electioneering promises to the people of Edo State as you
are answerable to them,” Hon. Asuquo said.
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