Governor Abdullahi A. Sule of Nasarawa State has enjoined the management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC to exhibit change management in order to bring about the needed organizational transformation.
The governor stated this when he received the team of AEDC led by the Acting General Manager, Nasarawa region, Chris Chime at the Government House Lafia, Tuesday.
He said the AEDC requires a change of direction, hence the need to encourage the distribution company to do more in ensuring power supply to the people especially at this time of lockdown and stay at home caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
Engineer Sule added that “Power is one of the major areas of our discussion when the Governors met with the Presidency with regards to what is happening in the country”
“Since we are connected Nasarawa more to you as an organization, as a distribution company then we have more to do with you” Gov Sule maintaines.
He further said the over time, generating companies say they have enough but the distribution companies are not utilizing the available power and the investment by the distribution companies is said not to be efficient.
On the issue of vandalisation of power equipment, the Governor called on AEDC to liaise with security agencies and the communities in order to stem the act, adding the state government has over the years supported the electricity company in repairing the vandalized equipment.
“It reached a point where I said who is doing the vandalisation, and you hear all kinds of theories. Nobody will go and find a life line and vandalize the cable except the line is not life otherwise many deaths would have been recorded”. Gov Sule added.
The Governor continued by saying communities that are more interested in having power supply will be more than interested to catch and report vandals even if they are staff of the distribution companies if their cooperation is sort for.
According to Governor Abdullahi Sule, State Governors in the Federation will submit their investments in the power to the federal government in order to possibly get some form of reimbursement as Governors are doing Alot in the areas of power supply.
Speaking earlier, the Acting General Manager of AEDC Nasarawa region, Chris Chime said they were at the Government House to pledge the company’s readiness to serve the people of Nasarawa and also support the state government in any way possible.
Chris Chime while commending the pragmatic approach of Governor Abdullahi Sule to governance, also seek the assistance of the state government to surmount the challenges faced by the company.
“Lafia especially used to have a very peculiar problem of low voltage, we are aware of that and we know that with the upcoming of the 330KVA station at Akurba, once that station begins work, all power issues in the state and even the FCT will be taken care of”. Chime added.
He then called on the state government to come to their aid in the area of providing security of their facilities across the state, as he maintained that in the last three months, over twenty-five of the company’s facilities were vandalized.
Vandalisation according to Chris Chime has always been the bane of the challenges that the efficient power supply to the customers, adding that presently, over 16 transmission facilities are out of function.
