The Niger State House of Assembly has given its legislative backing for the state government to pull out of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, (AEDC), over epileptic and poor electricity supply in the state.
The assembly at its plenary on Tuesday directed Governor Umar Bago, to immediately start negotiations with another electricity distribution company, towards getting the state back on better electricity supply terms.
The lawmakers passed a Vote of No Confidence on the AEDC, after its management, led by the Chief Operating Officer, Okwuokenye Chijioke, blamed the epileptic power supply to the state, on N3 billion in debts, when he appeared before the house members.
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The Speaker of the Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, expressed dismay over the situation of electricity supply in the state, even though Niger State is hosting four hydropower stations that contribute 60 percent of electricity to the national grid.
According to the speaker, there is no justification, whatsoever, for the state not to enjoy a minimum of 18 hours of electricity supply in a day.
He added that the people of the state have been pushed to the wall, and will no longer tolerate the continued blackout of the state by the distribution company.
On his part, Chijioke said the company is not unaware of the complaints by the people, over the poor power supply, but blames the situation on the poor payment culture of the consumers.
He said the distribution company only realised 60 percent of the energy supply to the people in the state.
The company is losing enormous energy, as a result of the non-payment of energy consumed by the people.
The assembly, thereafter, passed a Vote of Confidence on Governor Umar Bago, over what they termed, visionary and developmental leadership, in less than one year in office.
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