ASHENEWS reports that the Niger state governor, Umaru Bago has announced plans to subsidize the cost of electricity for households in the state in a bid to strengthen power supply.
The governor stated this on Wednesday when he met with the management team of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) at the Government House.
Bago, who expressed dissatisfaction with the persistent power outages in the state noted that the common man was facing hardship, particularly during the current hot weather.
He urged AEDC to enhance electricity distribution and collaborate with the State Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy to assess the average consumption of customers on service-based lines.
“We are concerned about the hardship our people face due to erratic power supply. The state government will subsidize electricity to ease this burden, but AEDC must also step up and improve supply,” the governor stated.
Responding to the governors address, the Chief Business Officer at the AEDC, Engr. Sam Odekina, attributed the current challenges to increased electricity consumption caused by the extreme weather and the limited quantum of power available for distribution.
According to him, aside the constraints of service-based tariffs regulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the company was also faced with the challenge of reluctance of customers to pay electricity bills.
Odekina assured that the AEDC is willing to work with the state government to address the power supply shortage in the state.
