The Ebonyi State Government has restated its commitment to restoring power to Afikpo communities following a 13-year outage in the area.
Mr Peter Oga-Ali, the State Commissioner for Power and Energy, provided the guarantee on Monday after inspecting the power plant in Afikpo, Afikpo Local Government Area of the state.
Oga-Ali, who also gave an account of the N208 million allocated for the project by state governor Francis Nwifuru, stated that eight new transformers had been installed.
This comes after he disputed charges on social media that he had misused funds allocated for power restoration, saying, “Some of the indigenes have consequently peppered my phone with calls, directly accusing me and the ministry of diverting the money.”
Oga-Al stated, “The Amasiri sub-station in the local government area has also been constructed to ensure a consistent electricity supply. There were five other old transformers, all of which had been reconditioned and installed.
“Our current difficulty is the ongoing construction of the Enugu-Abakaliki Motorway, which has resulted in the relocation of high voltage lines between Nkalagu and Ntezi.
“Once the poles are repaired, power will be restored to the region. Also, all of the work to restore power has been accomplished, and I applaud the engineers who were on the field for their great work,” stating that the “total money was N208 million, but after tax deductions, we now have N194 million.”
The commissioner went on to say, “I want to make it clear that N194 million was released to the ministry on February 28, 2024, for the procurement and installation of eight new transformers, as well as the rehabilitation of collapsed electrical lines in Afikpo.”
“In addition to the eight transformers, five were rebuilt and placed in the following communities: Enohia Nkalu, Amaozara, and Ozizza.
“A letter for the completion of works had been sent to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) on May 23 by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, followed with a joint inspection team.”
He stressed that it is the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s obligation “to ensure that energy is transmitted from one station to the other,” and blamed the ministry for the delayed energy supply to Afikpo.
As a result, the commissioner advised the people to be calm and law-abiding while promising to work harder to resolve technical challenges and restore power to the area.