The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) will expand its infrastructure and network for effective service delivery, its Managing Director, Mr Kingsley Achife, said on Saturday in Ibafo, Ogun.
He gave the assurance at a stakeholders’ engagement meeting held in Ibafo, Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun.
Achife, represented by the company’s Lead Media Officer, Mrs Busolami Tunwase, said IBEDC would continue to ensure effective service delivery to the people in spite of its customers’ huge debt.
”We will not relent in satisfying our customers, in spite of the debt in the state,” he said.
The managing director said energy theft and debt remained the major issues confronting the electricity companies in the country.
He said IBEDC was unhappy with such attitude, saying any one involved in the dastardly act would be punished under the law.
Achife said the company called for the forum with the customers to seek better working relationships.
He appealed to customers to assist the company in paying their debt.
“In spite of over N64 billion debt in Ogun, IBEDC has assured customers of improved service. We now wear a new garment and will not stop infrastructure and network expansion.
“Some customers do this by bypassing their metres, some don’t have metres at all. They just connect to their houses directly. They do these mostly in the night. This is economic sabotage,” Achife said.
The IBEDC Managing Director said the company budgeted N18 billion for infrastructure, and network expansion and that was what the company wanted to do.
“We want to do more and provide more good services to our customers and that is why we are appealing to our customers to pay up their debt.”
He said energy theft had been a major challenge to the company’s growth and the total debt in Ogun was N74 billion, with Ibafo alone owing over N5 billion.