By our correspondent

The failure of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) to replace two electricity poles knocked down by a windstorm in Lafia last Wednesday has left more than half of the city’s population without power for five days, with no immediate solution in sight.

An investigation by Nasarawa Eye revealed that the heavy rainfall and windstorm brought down two poles carrying 11kVA electricity lines from the Mararaba Junction substation into Lafia town. Despite the critical nature of the damage, the AEDC office in Lafia has yet to replace the poles, reportedly due to a lack of funds.

Sources disclosed that the AEDC offices in Lafia currently operate without any imprest funds to handle such emergencies. Additionally, it was revealed that the AEDC general store in Lafia has not received any equipment or supplies from its headquarters in the past six years.

In many such cases, it is the consumers who are asked to contribute money to purchase replacement equipment, raising concerns about the company’s capacity to maintain its infrastructure and respond to power outages.
Nasarawa Eye has further learned that the two poles damaged by the windstorm would cost less than N300,000 to replace. However, the economic losses caused by the resulting blackout now run into millions of Naira. This is in addition to the psychological impact on residents due to the ongoing heatwave.
Some affected residents who spoke with Nasarawa Eye expressed their frustration over the ongoing power outages, criticizing the attitude of AEDC towards the residents of Lafia. They pointed out that since more than 97 percent of electricity consumers in Lafia are on estimated billing, AEDC seems unconcerned about the prolonged blackouts. Regardless of the lack of electricity, residents still receive their bills at the end of the month, and are expected to pay.
Lafia residents are urging the authorities to hold AEDC accountable and are also calling on the state government to intensify efforts to establish its own agency responsible for electricity generation and distribution in Nasarawa State. They argue that this would help prevent what they describe as the exploitative tendencies of AEDC.