- * Says They’re Not Telling People About The One We Paid
By Princess Simon (Bureau Chief North Central, in Minna)
Niger state government has said that the disconnection of supply to the Government House, the State Secretariat, the Minna General Hospital and the Secretary to the State Government’s (SSG) office by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) over alleged N1.3b debt was just a ploy to ‘embarrass everyone’.
The state government’s reaction is coming against the backdrop of last Saturday’s disconnection of electricity supply to the Government House, State Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including the Minna General hospital, over accumulated bills.
Reasons for the disconnection by the AEDC regional Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Mohammed Adamu, is that the state government defaulted after initial agreement to offset outstanding sum running into several billions of Naira.
But Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Matane, in an interview, said the AEDC is merely trying to embarrass everyone because the state government has not defaulted in paying monthly N57 million as agreed.
“The AEDC is claiming that the government is indebted to the tune of N1.3 billion, but again have failed to also let the public know about the one we have paid over a period of time. I think they are just out to embarrass everybody by going out and cutting lights just like that”, Matane said.
The SSG argued that as a government, we will continue to handle the issue of the AEDC with maturity, adding however that he sees no reasons why the company still went ahead to embarrass the state government by throwing the entire government facilities in darkness.
Asked what the government has done to remedy the situation, Matane said, “We have been dialoguing with them, even yesterday (Saturday), we met and still talking. But you see, they just went to town to embarrass everybody”.
The average monthly electricity consumption, according to the AEDC, is estimated at about N70 million, for all the disconnected facilities, but based on agreement, the state government have been paying N57 million monthly and have not defaulted.
“Even in the Court of law, debts with mutual agreement on mode of payments is allowed or acceptable and we agreed with them on how we will be paying, but like I said, as a government, we still maintain this gentleman's approach to handling the issue”.
Meanwhile, efforts to confirm claims of offsetting part of the bill by the state government and why most parts of Minna metropolis and environs has been without light for days now from the AEDC regional PRO proved abortive.
The PRO did not pick calls, nor replied text message sent to him to clarify claims by the state government of having remitted millions of naira over a period of time in both cash and provision of cables, transformers and other high profile equipment for ease of electricity distribution to parts of the state. NNL.
