North-east owes NEPA N3bn
From Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar, in Yola
Four north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno, Taraba and Yobe owe the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), a whopping sum of N3 billion, the chief operating officer of NEPA in charge of the zone, Dr Abubakar Tambawal Atiku, has disclosed.
Speaking to journalists in Yola, Adamawa State capital, Dr. Atiku said that the bulk of the debt was owed by government establishments and residential consumers in the zone.
“The main reason for the rising debt profile is the economic situation of the country on the part of residential and government (establishments). On the whole, it is mostly the government that owes most of it…The industries don’t owe much,” he said.
The authority, he said, has not relented on its debt recovery efforts. “We are still pursuing them (the debtors). We have reconciliation committees working out with the indebted government (establishments) on how to settle the debts. We don’t normally disconnect them for security and other considerations,” he added.
The north-east zone, which has suffered a severe power outage between last Thursday and Saturday, had increased its revenue generation in recent months, the chief operating officer said, pointing out that the zone realised N98 million last month as compared to N87 million a month earlier.
He said the improvement was also witnessed nation wide, as the total revenue jumped to N6.3 billion last month, compared to the N5.9 billion realised in the preceding month.
Dr Atiku attributed the increase in revenue generation to what he called “the unbundling of NEPA” which gave the zones and districts more autonomy to improve their services and enhance their revenues.
On the problem of low voltage in Adamawa and Taraba states, the chief operating officer said the problem would be overcome when the ongoing 330 KV project is completed.
“The existing 132 KV is incapable of meeting the demand…That is why we are sometimes forced to engage in load shedding. With 330 KV, there is no need for load shedding…When completed, the issue of low voltage would be over,” he said.
Recently, members of the Senate Committee on Power and Steel had visited the two states to assess the level of work done on the power projects in relation to the funds allocated for them.
Dr Atiku said the visit would assist in generating better funding for power projects in the zone and could help to accelerate the 330 KV project which he said has attained about 40 per cent completion.
He also disclosed that the problem of vandalisation of NEPA facilities and equipment has reduced significantly in the north-east zone, pointing out that in the last two months, no single case of vandalization had been reported.
He attributed the success to vigilance and the cooperation the authority has been getting from the public.
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