…As Landlord Group takes case to Senate

From Chuks Onuoha, Umuahia

The Abia State House of Assembly has on its own part passed a vote of no confidence on the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), over extortion, issuance of estimated, spurious and crazy bills.

This is even as members of Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association (ALPADA) have taken their case against the company to the Senate.

The Abia Assembly passed the vote of no confidence on EEDC following a Matter of Urgent Public Importance on what they described as mindless extortion by EEDC and a petition written by a widow , accusing the company of exposing her to untold hardship through outrageous bills.

The matter was presented by the Deputy Speaker, Sir Cosmos Ndukwe, as a result of which the state Chairman of National Electricity Regulatory commission wa s invited to appear before the Executive session of the House on May 17, 2017 on the way forward to the ugly activities of the company.

It would be recalled that the landlords, who earlier petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari on the activities of EEDC, observed that Aba residents have lost billions of Naira to the company through unwholesome practices in bill estimation.

They stated that they were  aware that the meter reading, billing, cash collection and credit management for electricity supply regulation of  2007 tasks officers  to  obtain the actual reading of meter before billing for electricity consumed and  decried that  the   officers  instead of reading meters,  would   send estimated,  over bloated and crazy bills to their members  who have installed meters in their houses.

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When it appeared that response was not forth coming from the presidency, the Landlords, led by their President General , Chief Alphonsus A. Udeigbo, wrote to the Senate ,  alleging the above mentioned offenses against the company.

Consequently, both  the Association and the Company  were invited to appear before the senate in Abuja, but on the scheduled date, representatives of the company  allegedly refused to come.

They also alleged  that the Company is insisting on consumers paying for the repairs and maintenance of damaged electric cables, transformers and concrete poles.

The Aba landlords also expressed dismay that during the public hearing which was fixed on 30th day of March 2017, they  were present at the  Senate, while  EEDC officers did not show up.

Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition have promised to extend another invitation to the company in a future date, and asked the Landlords to ensure that they are present for them to know the next line of action.