ABUA/ODUAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL DISCONTINUES PAYMENT OF ELECTRICITY BILLS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSUMERS

….gives reasons

The authorities of Abua/Odual Local Government Area in Rivers State have come out to say that its policy of supplying electricity to the various homes in the area for free, would no longer continue.

Chairman of Abua/Odual Local Government Council, DANIEL O. DANIEL confirmed this in an interview with Brave Views.

Recall that the council chairman, on assumption of office, as a caretaker chairman years ago, approached the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to supply electricity to the various homes of citizens of the LGA while the council would pay the bills.

However, the Council Chairman, DANIEL O. DANIEL is not happy that the service lines, that supply the electricity, are being tampered by some persons suspected to be beneficiaries of the gesture.

DANIEL O. DANIEL disclosed that such tampering obstruct power supply, adding that the PHCN fines the council for such infringements, in addition to the normal monthly bills amounting to about N3 million naira.

The Council Chairman emphatically said that his administration would no longer continue to pay electricity bills for the individual consumers or homes in Abua/Odual LGA.

The chairman said it was regrettable that the benefitting communities did not value the free electricity supplied to their homes, which is obviously why the service lines were being tampered.

The chairman said any home or community that wishes to continue to have electricity supply from the PHCN would henceforth pay for it, with effect from this month, September 2021.

He said the Council had already informed PHCN of the decision of his administration to discontinue the previous arrangement of paying the bills for the citizens of Abua/Odual effective last month, August, 2021.

According to the council boss: “When I came in as a caretaker chairman, I brought in a policy to pay the electricity bills for my people.

“But it is not working, we have spent about N100m paying the bills but it’s not working.

“Why is it not working? The service lines are being tampered by the beneficiaries, those who we are paying the free bill for. I think it’s because they’re getting it free, they’re tampering the light.

“You know, when people tamper the light, PHCN will come and disconnect the whole of the affected area and fine the council because the council is the one paying the bills.

“Now, the Council can not continue with the payment. Our payments ended in August, we are not going to pay for this month of September again.

“We have finished discussing with PHCN that from this month, we are no longer paying, we told them that our payment has ended in August.

“We are going to engage the communities this week to say to them that we are no longer paying.

The council can no longer paying, you pay and there’s no light, it’s like a fraud.

“The people are tampering the service lines because they’re not the ones paying. And they don’t know the value because they are not the ones paying.

“If they’re paying N5,000, N3,000, N8,000, and N10,000, depending on the sizes of their houses, they will not tamper with the service lines

“If they want to have electricity supply in their homes from this month of September, then, they have to fund it (they should pay the bills).

“Council can only intervene in the area of High Tension. If it has a problem or council will clear the bushes around the high tension to make sure trees don’t grow in it but on issues of paying for individual consumers or homes, council will no longer be paying. Council is paying about N3m monthly and it’s not working.

“Council will get some metre for the government offices and pay according to what we consume in the offices”, he concluded.