AEDC AND DISCONNECTION NOTICE
The recently published list of ministries, departments and agencies of government with outstanding bills for services rendered to them through the provision of electricity supply by Abuja Electricity Distribution PLC (AEDC) raised serious concerns about the future of the country.
Over N47Bn is recorded to being owed AEDC by agencies of government, the sum which had been duly appropriated by the National Assembly at one plenary or the other.
This operational disruption of Abuja DISCO due to impunity displayed by government agencies and departments is what other DISCOs are experiencing across the states of the federation.
A situation where the nation is practically enveloped in darkness, where factories, small and medium- scale enterprises are folding up, and households made to spend hard- earned money on diesel poses serious problems to all and the economy.
Leading this catalogue with over one billion debt includes Ministry of Education, CBN, Nigeria Police Force, Kogi State Governor Liaison Office, Ministry of Health and Clerk of National Assembly.
Others with over N2Bn indebtedness are Ministry of Petroleum, Niger State Governor Liaison Office, Ministry Of Finance, FCT Ministry.
The AEDC directory puts Chief of Defense Staff-Barracks and Military Formations with a record N12Bn indebtedness.
The National Assembly should commence investigations into these anomalies starting with the Clerk of The National Assembly.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should prosecute erring officials of the listed agencies of government for negligence and violation of laws under the appropriate act.·
Unless appropriate actions are taken against those complicit in running the DISCOS out of business with their unhinged indebtedness the nation’s power sector will remain comatose.
For the minister of power whose only policy strategy is to remove the last subsidy on power, it is high time he started thinking out of the box. How can you leave a low hanging means of resuscitating the DISCOS through a judicial recovery of these humongous debts to the lazy and anti-people’s choice of removing subsidy?
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· Bukola Ajisola
