The Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) Plc. Mr John Ayodele,, on Tuesday said that Mowe/Ibafo/Magboro Areas electricity nightmare would come to an end in September.
Ayodele said this at the stakeholders’ meeting in Ibadan attended by the representatives of the communities where their challenges and concerns were highlighted and addressed.
According to him, the construction of two electricity lines to take light from Sagamu and Abeokuta down to Mowe and its environs are ongoing and will be completed by September.
TBI Africa reports that the communities’ complaints over poor electricity supply had been giving IBEDC sleepless nights.
Ayodele said the contract for the project was awarded late last year, and that it was being delayed by the increase in the initial prices quoted for the materials.
He said that the Disco had borrowed huge amount from the CBN to execute the contract, adding that once the price differences had been settled, the contractor would start work on the project.
“The project is ongoing, that is why I know that the September promise is reliable. Even if one line is completed first, the company will energise it and give light to the areas it will cover.
“We appeal to the residents to continue to pay their bills as money is needed to pay off the money borrowed from the CBN,” he said.
Ayodele said the way to correct and solve estimated billings is by metering every household, and nobody would be short changed.
He said that consumers should go directly to IBEDC offices to pay their bills and stop giving money to its marketeers or anybody to pay on their behalf.
Ayodele said once the two lines were completed, the Oke-Aro line would be dedicated to Magboro and Ibafo areas. He said that the essence of the meeting was to tell them that their light suffering would soon be a thing of the past.
Some of the stakeholders expressed their dissatisfaction with the services rendered by the distribution company (DisCo) in the communities. They said they were not happy with the estimated billings because they were paying for what they did not consume.
One of them, Mr Samuel Asaolu, Chairman, Mowe Area Community Development Committee (ACDC), urged the DisCo to ensure that pre-paid meters get to the areas so that people could pay for what they consume. He said such gesture would remove the bitterness currently existing between the consumers and IBEDC.
Present at the meeting were some CDC leaders, their representatives and top management staff of IBEDC.
