Lawmaker leads protest against poor electricity supply in Nasarawa

Member representing Akwanga South Constituency at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Hon Kassim Muhammed, has led a protest against poor electricity supply in the state.

The protest which was organised by the Youth Wing of Mada Development Association (YWMDA) had youths from Akwanga, Nassarawa-Eggon and Wamba Local Government Areas (LGAs) carrying placards with different inscriptions.

Speaking during the protest, Muhammed said he decided to join the

protest in solidarity with his people against exploitation by Abuja

Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), specifying that the AEDC would supply electricity for three hours in a day in most areas but would send ‘crazy bills’ of thousands of naira at the end of the month.

“They only give light whenever they want to send bills, and as soon as bills are paid you would not see light again. This situation cannot be allow to continue so I am calling on the Federal Government to do something urgently if not the activities of this company is affecting the image of the President,” he added.

On his part, the National President of YWMDA, Comrade Gyuni Umaru, said the protest was necessitated after a complaint written to the headquarters of AEDC did not yield any result.

He added that the youths had given AEDC one week ultimatum to improve their service in the area or close down their offices. “In the next one week, we want them to start the installation of prepaid meters to all customers, supply light for at least 18 hours per day. We also want immediate reconnection of Wamba, Nassarawa-Eggon and Andaha that were disconnected for just no reason.”

Receiving the youths in his Palace, the Chun-Mada and Chairman Traditional Council of Akwanga, Samson Gamuyare, expressed gratitude to the youths for ensuring that the protest was peaceful, adding that the traditional council in the area has also written severally to AEDC about the power situation in the area but nothing was done to improve the situation.

When contacted, the AEDC Public Relations Officer, Mr Oyebode Fadipe, appealed to customers to exercise patience, saying that power supply had improved recently and they were working to ensure improved service delivery to all their customers.

On the issue of the prepaid meters, Fadipe said that all customers would be metered, but that metering would not happen in one day. “We will meter them all and it is to our own advantage to meter them. This year alone we have signed a contract for 120,000 meters,” he said.