• Allegation unfounded, says firm
Residents of Uncle Joe, Mokola, Ibadan, have decried days of darkness occasioned by alleged refusal of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to fix their faulty transformer.
They alleged that the situation escalated when the IBEDC staff, tasked with rectifying the issue, demanded N2 million to facilitate repairs.
The damage, they said, occurred last month when an IBEDC representative sought to connect electricity from their transformer to another community.
Lamenting that the area known for its bustling commercial activities has been grievously affected, they called for immediate action on the transformer.
Narrating the incident that led to the damage, the residents said during the process of the connection, there was a spark, and since then, the community has been without power.
According to them, despite reporting the issue to IBEDC, it demanded N2 million for repairs, a cost the residents argued they should not bear as they were not responsible for the damage.
A printing press owner in the commercial hub, Seun Afolabi, who expressed his frustration, said: “Mokola is known to be a commercial area, and we usually have reliable power supply. Now, we are the only ones using generators, and it costs me N40,000 daily for diesel.”
Another printing press owner, Tunde Adeolu, lamented: “The lack of electricity has brought our operations to a standstill. We rely heavily on power to operate our machines and fulfill orders. The demand for N2 million is exorbitant and unjustifiable.”
When contacted over the allegation, spokesperson for IBEDC, Busolami Tunwase, described it as unfounded because IBEDC has a workshop for repairs of transformers.
“If any staff is extorting any customer, please report to ethics@ibedc.com with evidence of such extortion,” she added.
