The Ekiti State Government has rejected the proposed plan by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to impose a nine-hour daily blackout on the state for two months starting July 1, News About Nigeria reports.
The government stated that the planned power outage poses an unacceptable economic, financial, and social burden on the citizens.
TCN and BEDC had announced maintenance work on the 132 kV Akure-Osogbo transmission line, which would involve the installation of optical ground wire and other activities requiring a power outage on the affected network for safety.
The maintenance was scheduled from July 1 to August 31, with power outages in Ondo and Ekiti states from 8 am to 5 pm daily throughout the period.
However, the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utility, Prof. Bolaji Aluko, revealed that the state government was not informed, nor was approval sought from the Ekiti State Electricity Regulatory Bureau, which is authorised to regulate the electricity industry in the state.
“The planned disruption of electricity in these two months amounts to an unacceptable economic, financial, and social price to be paid by the citizens of Ekiti State, and we totally reject such a plan,” Aluko said.
The commissioner stressed that the government had not received any direct notification or communication regarding the planned outage.
“Our attention has been called to public notifications, both in print and in jingles in English and Yoruba, of the intention of BEDC, under advice by TCN, to disrupt power supply to the transmission stations in Akure and Ado-Ekiti, adversely affecting Ekiti and Ondo State areas for nine hours each day (8 am to 5 pm) from July 1 to August 31, 2024,” Aluko stated.
“The planned disruption of electricity for three-eighths of each day for sixty-two days, amounting to five hundred and fifty-eight hours (558) total and twenty-three days of outage in these two months amounts to an unacceptable economic, financial, and social price to be paid by the citizens of Ekiti State, and we totally reject such a plan.”
The commissioner demanded an immediate suspension of the plan and called for an emergency meeting with the regional heads of TCN, BEDC, and NERC.
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 2, in the commissioner’s office at the Government Secretariat, Ado-Ekiti.
