At last, IBEDC bows to pressure, agrees to restore electricity to Ilesha

Admin l Saturday, April 27, 2019

IBADAN, Oyo, Nigeria – The Ibadan Electric Distribution Company (IBEDC) has said it is committed to restoring power to Ilesha as soon as possible. The company said in a statement signed by the Head of Branding and Corporate Communications Mrs Angela Olanrewaju, on Saturday.

It said the decision was sequel to the intervention meeting hosted by the Executive Governor of Osun State, Alhaji   Gboyega  Adetola, and with the Oba’s Committee   constituted   by  Ijesaland to facilitate   the   restoration   of   power.

“The   Board   and   Management   of   IBEDC   as   a   customer   centric organization have committed to restoring power to Ilesha as soon as possible”, the statement said.

Chief Operating Officer, IBEDC Mr John Ayodele said that in response to the appeal from the governor and the people of Ilesha that the company would commence initial preparations required to restore service from next week. Ayodele said IBEDC has committed to send an advance party comprising its technical and administrative staff to critically assess and see what could be salvaged for gradual restoration of power.

He said the administrative staff would also commence the cleanup and tidying of the office facilities for resumption. Ayodele said along with this was the replacement of some staff in Ilesha and recruitment of qualified indigenes   of   Ilesha   to   ensure   better   service   to   customers   and   engender   confidence   from   the community.

“In resolving one of the major issues that led to the crisis, which is metering and estimated billing. IBEDC   will within the next few weeks clear the backlog of meters as all customers that paid under the previous metering schemes that show evidence of payment will be metered. Also unmetered customers that are willing to pay can take advantage of the new metering scheme, Meter   Asset   Provider   (MAP), introduced by NERC to bridge the metering gap , as we  have  contracted   seven  vendors under this scheme.

“This will greatly reduce estimated billing which has been a thorny issue. IBEDC will also strengthen its community engagements platform and explore strong communication/ feedback mechanisms to encourage customers to report grievances and issues in an amicable way.

“Finally, IBEDC hereby request that the committee will also commence a strong advocacy drive within the community to ensure a safe, cordial and conducive working environment for our staff,” he added.

He also asked the Ilesha community to support the gesture through the immediate payment of their huge outstanding as this will greatly facilitate the rehabilitation works and show goodwill from the customers.