Authority Newspapers Awka office joins Enugu Assembly asks EEDC to vacate the Enugu and Anambra states over high billing system

www.odogwublog.com reports that The Authority Newspapers , Awka Office joins the Enugu State House of Assembly this afternoon passed a resolution, asking the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to halt every operation in the state and vacate,alleging undue extortion and exploitation of residents through high billing system.
Authority Newspaper was billed N35,000 for March when there was no electricity supply for most of the month and the office ran on generator. And what does the office consume , only bulbs and fans.

The  resolution was taken aftermath of deliberations on a matter of urgent importance through a motion sponsored by Hon. Chinedu Nwamba representing Nsukka East Constituency,supported by twenty two other members of the House.
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The lawmakers, in the motion, decried the EEDC’s current billing system as day-light robbery, stating that for every one unit of power, Enugu was overpaying with N10 and N13 when compared to Abuja and Lagos, respectively.

The House not only declared a state of emergency on the EEDC, it also asked it to vacate the State forthwith since it was not ready to do business in line with international best practices.

The House also urged the Enugu State Government to liaise with the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to validate the quality of pre-paid metres being installed in the State to ensure that its setting was commensurate to the unit of consumption.

The lawmakers, while mandating the EEDC to start doing business in line with international best practices, equally urged the residents of Enugu State to stop paying for electricity bills they did not consume.

The Enugu Assembly called on the other Houses of Assembly in the South-East to go ahead and declare the State of emergency on the EEDC, as its alleged fraudulent activities were affecting the entire zone.

All the lawmakers who contributed to a debate on the motion lamented that the EEDC was using the new pre-paid metres as well as its estimated billing system to dupe residents.

While the special sitting was going on, hundreds of Enugu residents occupied the House of Assembly complex in protest against the obnoxious billing system of the EEDC.
Making remarks, Speaker of the House, Hon. Edward Ubosi noted that the situation created by the EEDC was affecting all the residents of the State.

“You have said it all; a robust debate; I saw people voicing out their hearts; they are obtaining by tricks; their conduct is likely to cause breach of peace; what they are doing amounts to digital fraud; we say enough is enough”, Ubosi declared.

The House thereafter set up a 6-man committee to be chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Ubosi, with Hon, Nwamba and four others as members.

The committee is to hold a 3-day public hearing at the three senatorial zones of Enugu State. They are to invite any person whose input is considered needful to tackle the problem.