Nigeria: Electricity Tariff - AEDC Threatens to Disconnect Nigeria's Defence HQ, FCDA, Others

1 June 2024
Premium Times (Abuja)
By Mary Izuaka

"We therefore urge all customers with debts to pay all outstanding bills before the deadline to avoid service interruption," it said

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has said it will disconnect all customers with outstanding electricity bills by Monday, June 3.

The AEDC management disclosed this in a notice titled: "Notice of power disconnection for customers with outstanding bills" seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday.

"This is to inform the general public that AEDC will disconnect all customers with outstanding electricity bills on June 3, 2024.

"Timely payment of electricity bills is crucial for the continued operation and enhancement of AEDC infrastructure, ensuring we can deliver efficient and reliable service to our community.

"We therefore urge all customers with debts to pay all outstanding bills before the deadline to avoid service interruption," the company said.

The company listed customers with outstanding bills to include the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, Defence Headquarters, Federal Capital Development Authority, Kogi State Government, Niger State Government, Nigerian Police Force Headquarters, Nigeria Army barracks, Power House, SGF House I, Head of Service, Federal Ministry of Education.

Other affected customers are, the Federal Ministry of Women's Affairs, Federal Ministry of Industry, Federal Ministry of Trade, Federal Ministry of Interior, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, National Stadium, Goodluck Jonathan Athletics Hall, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Education, National Planning Com (Budget), Federal Ministry of Works, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Abuja and all other customers owing AEDC.

In a public notice by its Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Adefisayo Akinsanya on Friday, AEDC said the deadline for payment of all outstanding bills must be within 72 hours of the notice.

The AEDC had in February threatened to disconnect the power supply to the Presidential Villa and the offices of some top government agencies over unpaid electricity bills.

In a public announcement at the time, AEDC said the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government owe the distribution company N47 billion in unpaid bills for services rendered to them.

The Nigerian government had in 2013 handed over the ownership of the bulk of the state electricity company to private buyers.

Since then, distribution companies (DisCos) have struggled to efficiently collect money for the electricity provided.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has budgeted billions of naira for the settlement of electricity bills over the years.

This year, the federal government allocated N40 billion for the "Settlement of MDAs electricity debts," details of the assented budget show.

Read the original article on Premium Times.

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