Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has set up a five-man committee to oversee the easy delivery of the Osun power sector agenda.
The committee’s terms of reference include facilitating the early passage of the draft electricity bill, addressing issues impeding regular power supply, promoting embedded power alternatives, resolving the issue of debt owed IBEDC, and fashioning ways and means of securing energy infrastructure across the state.
Members of the committee include; Commissioner for Energy, Honorable Fetus Adéyemo, Commissioner for Finance, Hon. Shola Ogungbile, Commissioner for Rural Development, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa, Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Power, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Hon. Hezekiah Olabamiji; and the representative of the private sector, Mr. Tayo Adegbemle, who is an energy analyst.
A statement on Saturday by Rasheed Olawale, spokesperson to the governor, said Governor Adeleke, while unveiling the power sector agenda at a private meeting with the Managing Director of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, said the power agenda became imperative to urgently resolve the crisis of irregular power supply in the state.
Describing Osun as a critical stakeholder in the Nigerian power sector, with Osogbo hosting the National Transmission Control Centre, the governor expressed worry over the recent epileptic power supply in the state, a situation which he stressed has affected the local economy and businesses badly.
The Governor also harped on the extortion of customers through transformer procurement, estimated billing that exploits the consumers, and the inability of some residents of the state to buy energy due to the old metering system.
To this effect, Adeleke said Osun is already working to enact the State’s Electricity System Law, which will enable it to set up a Power Sector Regulatory Agency with a view to ensuring that people of Osun State are properly served within IBEDC franchise areas.
“As a Government, we are already working to enact the Osun Electricity system law. We will be setting up a power sector regulatory agency. We will introduce off-grid options and widen alternative energy sources,” Mr. Governor posited.
In his remark, Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Adewale Egbedun called on the distribution company to cooperate with the Osun State government so that the firm will be able to carry out its business smoothly while residents of the state will also have value for the money being paid for energy consumption.
Responding, the Managing Director of IBEDC, Mr. Kingsley Achiefe, appreciated the Governor for the interface, saying the firm is also ready to collaborate with Osun State Government with a view to serving their customers better.
According to him, the epileptic power supply in the state was caused by the drop in power generation.
He said that out of the 1600 megawatts of electricity required to power Osun State, the firm is currently receiving less than 400 megawatts of energy from the generation companies.
He identified vandalisation of energy installations and energy theft through the bypassing of meters as some of the challenges causing the firm to lose revenue, adding that many of the about 2800 transformers that are in Osun State are old and faulty.
He thereafter called on the state government to assist the company in stopping the ugly trend of illicit and illegal meters where people buy meters from other states, bringing them surreptitiously into the state and vending for energy from another state.
