Governor Atiku Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi state has debunked rumours making the round that the state government had stopped rendering assistance to Kaduna Electricity Company (KEDCO) in facilitating electricity supply to the state.
The governor, who was speaking to newsmen over the issue Monday, attributed the recent load shading being experienced in the state to failure by consumers to settle their monthly bills, adding that the supplying Kaduna Electricity Company could not withstand the huge debts owed the transmission company of Nigeria (TCN).
He further disclosed that in March alone, Kaduna Electricity was owed the sum of N900 million as the state government contributed N230 million to cushioning the effect of the debt contrary to the sum of N180 million the state agreed to contribute to the company monthly.
“The truth is that, customers are not paying their bills and the company, being owned by private individuals, could not continue to run the business at a loss. Now the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), owners of Kaijji dam that supplies Kebbi state, has increased the supply 100 per cent to KEDCO. Therefore, KEDCO consumers could not exhaust the supply and the company had to find an alternative,” he said.
Bagudu, however, said despite the fact that the state government has made concerted efforts to increase in consumption by putting back the Yauri and Zuru sub-station, the supply from TCN could not be exhausted.
Bagudu said, “This is the rumour going round about electricity in the state but every sensible person knows what we have done to improve power supply for the past two years. So, for anybody to think of deception in this respect is mischief.”
