N329m electricity debts cause outage in Abuja communities
More than five communities in Abuja are without electricity supply for several weeks after officials of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) cut their supply lines.
Some of the residents in Waru, Pigba, Wumba, Dogon Gada and Galadimawa, all in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), expressed displeasure over the incident, wondering why the electricity distribution company disconnected their community and not debtors.
Small and medium scale businesses were mostly affected by the outage with many businesses said to have packed up while other business operators spent huge amount of money on diesel to fuel their generators.
The residents of Tunga Maje had no electricity supply for more than four months, despite the intervention of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Some of the residents told Aso Chronicle they were not notified before the action.
The youth chairman in Dogo Gada community, Irimiya Kanpani, said that the community was disconnected for more than three days before they were reconnected after they reached an agreement with representatives of the electricity distribution company in the area.
Kanpani said that the community was said to have owed the distribution company about N40m.
“It is not everybody that owes but a large number of people in Dogo Gada do not pay their bills, though it’s not their fault,” he said.
He alleged that some of the AEDC staff used to collect money from defaulters to reconnect them, instead of ensuring that they paid their bill. Such payments, he said, were not recorded.
“Some people don’t pay their bills and prefer to tip AEDC boys to reconnect them and that goes on for several months,” he said.
Kanpani said that the community couldn’t afford to be without electricity, hence, it was agreed that all defaulters should pay significant percent of the money they owed and N5, 000 out of their arrears every month till the end of the year.
A resident, Ikechukwu Emenalo, said that the arrangement was fair to those with accumulated bills.
However, residents of Wumba were unable to reach agreement with the AEDC to restore electricity supply to the community. The acting chief in the community, Dauda Tanko, said that residents lived in darkness for more than two months.
“It is surprising that when they came for disconnection they did not tell anybody, I am surprised that we are yet to have electricity,” he said.
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