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The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, has called on the National Assembly to enact legislations to ensure stiff penalties for power theft and vandalisation of electricity installations.
The EEDC said this would help to grow the power sector to meet growing demands across the country.
EEDC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Emeka Eze made the call in an exclusive interview with Voice of Nigeria in Enugu.
In addition to appropriate laws, he also urged the Federal Government to explore a possibility of providing funding avenues to support the growth of the power sector, noting that previous administrations failed to pay a stipulated counterpart fund to the sector, as agreed some years ago.
Mr Eze lamented the poor payment of electricity bills by consumers, which has stunted the growth and development of power supply in its coverage areas.
He noted that the poor attitude of customers to pay their electricity bills, has drastically reduced the Company’s internally generated revenue; while the business of power generation and distribution has also suffered.
He said “this is outright sabotage on the business, they blame the company for not doing well, forgetting that if there is anyone to blame, they should be the ones. They engage in illegal connections and bypass, to avert payment of their bills and this affects our revenue strength and weakens the company’s capacity to generate enough power for distribution to the public.”
Mr. Eze condemned the spate of illegal connections and power bypass of the Company’s lines feeding private offices and homes within the coverage areas by unscrupulous members of the public.
Eze, therefore, enjoined the public to always report cases of illegal and fraudulent connections to the appropriate authorities and threatened that henceforth, it will no longer be business as usual.
“It is not enough to say that any person who is caught in the act of power bypass should be compelled to pay fifty thousand naira. This is a very serious offense and the punishment should be more decisive. I mean, the perpetrators should always be made to face the full weight of the law, to serve as deterent to others,” he emphasised.
He also condemned the incessant cases of molestation and attacks on EEDC’s marketers in the field by customers.
According to him, “we have severally received this reports and it is not in the best interest of this company. We have also issued warnings to customers in those areas and for some time now, we’ve not received such reports.”
