Don't Blame Us For Power Outage In Imo — EEDC To Customers

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has clarified that it is not responsible for the recent seven-day power outage in the State.

This is contained in a statement by the spokesperson of the Company, Emeka Ezeh, and made available to newsmen in Owerri, on Friday.

According to him, the clarification has become necessary following the misleading information trending on the social and conventional media regarding a recent industrial action embarked upon by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which affected power supply in the state.

He said that the strike is at the instance of the NLC, over alleged “unprovoked disruption of the State Delegates Conference in Imo by the Police and DSS, on the instruction of the State Government”.

He said that the NLC had subsequently instructed its affiliate unions to direct their members in the state to withdraw services until further notice, effective from March 8.

He added that it is against this backdrop that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) station Owerri, which is the source of power supply is shut down, thus affecting electricity distribution operations in Imo.

"The EEDC is a private enterprise committed to providing quality services to its customers, but the fact remains that it depends on other members of the electricity value chain to deliver services effectively and efficiently to its customers.

 "This is something all stakeholders need to appreciate.

"For instance, there is no way EEDC can provide power supply to its customers when its source of supply, the TCN, has been shut down.

"It is on record that EEDC issued a press statement, intimating its customers of the development.

“So, it will be unfair for any person or group to blame the EEDC for the industrial action.

"The industrial action equally had its own toll on the EEDC, as it recorded huge loss in revenue during the period and had some of its facilities attacked and vandalised, ” he said.

According to him, the EEDC is a responsible corporate organization committed to ensuring that its customers were well served and should therefore not be seen to be a party to any act that would work against the interest of its customers.

"The EEDC is enjoying a very cordial relationship with the Imo Government and will continue to ensure that this is sustained.

"We, therefore, implore our customers not to be deceived by any person or group and we assure them of our commitment to serving them.”