Ondo State Electricity Regulatory Bureau(OSERB) has threatened to institute litigation against Benin Electricity Distribution Company(BEDC) for failing to connect 32 transformer substations in different communities in the state.
The Coordinator of the Bureau, Engr. Stephen Bolawole disclosed this to newsmen while speaking on poor power supply in the state on Tuesday.
He said the failure of the Disco to connect the transformer substations to national grid was tantamount to electricity infrastructure expansion sabotage as enshrined in the state Power Sector Laws 2020.
Bolawole disclosed that the Bureau would liaise with the state Ministry of Justice to envoke the section of the Ondo State Power Sector Laws 2020 to compel the Disco to energise the transformer substations.
According to him, ‘In the state, we have 32 transformer substations done by the state government, the communities to ease their energy problems. Most of these transformers had been installed more a year ago, but the BEDC has not energised them, that is they have not been connected to the national grid.
“We have met with BEDC over this severally, but they have not done anything about it. Recently, we wrote to them. We threatened to go to court because our power law allows this. Their response was that their networks did not have the strength to take more loads. This is not satisfactory to us.
“The networks they are talking about were either done by the state government or its agency or the communities themselves. They inherited them and they have failed to strengthen them.
“What we want to actually do now is to take them to court. In our power law, there’s something we call electricity infrastructure expansion sabotage. This means that if the state government installs transformer and the Disco refuses to energise it, it is regarded as electricity infrastructure expansion sabotage. That is trying to sabotage the effort of state government in supplying power to its citizenry.
“We are writing to the Ministry of Justice to evoke that section of the law to prosecute the Disco. We are in the process of litigation. We cannot continue to watch our people suffer in the hand of people who supposed to alleviate their suffering.”
The Bureau in the last one year of its operation has been able to intervene between BEDC and the consumers on some issues relating to metering, estimated billing and transformer.
