
Hon. Iduma Igariwey,a member representing Afikpo North/South Federal Constituency, Ebonyi State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Iduma Igariwey has sued Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) over poor power supply to his constituency.
He is demanding N100m damages from the power company for the deprivations he had suffered.
The lawmaker said he had compiled and would tender as exhibits, all the receipts of diesel he has been buying since the blackout.
Igariwe,who disclosed this in Ukpa, Afikpo, Afikpo North local government of the state while briefing his constituents on his achievements,regretted that the suit had suffered setback because the presiding judge was on election duty, but vowed that he would pursue the case to its logical conclusion.
He explained that he has provided electricity transformer to some communities in the constituency and implored EEDC to be alive to its responsibilities.
He described the power company as incompetent and wondered why the Federal Government had refused to revoke its license.
Igariwey said, “as I speak now, I and EEDC are in court. The case has suffered setback because the judge was on election duty in Port-Harcourt. Because at a time, I even had to sue them for N100milion for certain deprivations I have suffered from them. I want our people to know that electricity is privatized, it was privatized in 2005. So, the issue of power in Nigeria has been privatized.
“The first people to hold responsible for power problems are the Distribution Companies(DISCO), they are the distribution agencies. In this our case, the company we must ask questions about this power of a thing is the EEDC. I took up their issue at the floor of Parliament through a petition that was written against them and they have been invited for more than ten times, I have sponsored those trips privately for them to come and explain a whole lot of things.
“It is now very clear to everybody that EEDC which was given the mandate to be supplying power to Afikpo people and entire south east are not up to their job. The commonest example is three days ago when heavy windstorm occurred. In that windstorm, many electricity poles fell down; you will see a lot of them when you are going to Mgbom, Uwnanna.
“Many poles are lying on the ground as we speak and nothing has been done by EEDC to carry them up. No responsible organization or even individual will allow its things scattered on the ground without putting them in order. That thing is a fundamental testimonial of the capacity or lack of it of the power service providers in the South-east, they are very inefficient. We blame them, we also blame the Federal Government because it is allowing them to hold the licenses”.