Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
For the umpteenth time, members of the Edo State Civil Society of Organisations (EDOSCO), have protested against the poor performance and failure of the BEDC Electricity Company Plc to meet targets and needs of Edo consumers, calling on the Federal government to withdraw the operational licence of the company.
The group faulted the claim by the electricity company that it had distributed 190, 000 meters to customers in the state.
Spokesperson and President of EDOSCO, Comrade Omobude Agho, accused the company for taking customers in Edo, Delta, Ekiti and Ondo states for granted in the company’s discharge of its duty to its customers across the states of operation.
He alleged that no meter had been installed in various homes in the states contrary to the claim by the management of the BEDC.
“They said today is Democracy (Independence) Day but for us, today is Electricity Democracy Day. Our leaders and governors have abandoned us; they are supposed to be at our stadia today in celebration but they have left us. The hearts of our leaders are not clear”, Agho said.
He described the management of the BEDC as a frustrated, rejected and dejected body and challenged it to tell Edo people where it had supplied the said huge number of meters, insisting that there was no going back on the December 2019 terminal date for the Federal government to withdraw the licence of the firm.
According to Agho, in any country where there is no electricity, corruption and crime will not end, even as the protesters carried placards, some of which read: “No going back on December deadline”, “Ekiti, Ondo, Edo and Delta people reject BEDC”, “BPE has compromised”, “BEDC has failed woefully.”
The management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) had on Monday kicked against the planned protest by EDOSCO.
The company’s Executive Director (Commercial), Dr. Abu Ejoor, had expressed displeasure over the proposed protest by members of EDOSCO, describing it as a disturbance to public peace.
He urged customers to disregard the protest and such deliberate misrepresentation as there was no expiration of the license of BEDC in December as alleged by the protesting group.