Residents of Benin and its environs have commended the Federal Government and the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) for the improvement in power supply to the areas.
Some of the residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin, in separate interviews on Wednesday, said the commendation was against the background of their experience within the last quarter of 2018.
The people said that with the improvement in power supply, they had been enjoying electricity from a near zero hours daily to at least, 12 hours daily supply.
They further stressed that the improvement in electricity supply had remarkably led to the improvement in their means of livelihood as well as their lifestyle.
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Mr Osaigwe Aghedo, a resident around Abuja quarter area of the Government Reserve Area (GRA), Benin said that the electricity supply to his area was constant at 12 hours daily.
“It is usually brought for every 3 hours, I mean 3 hours on and 3 hours off, which add up to 12 hours daily and it has been ongoing since January,” he said.
Aghedo said this was not the case between October and November 2018, when residents practically stayed in the dark for weeks.
Another resident, Miss Jemima Osaikhuiwuomwan, who lives around Iduoriyekemwen area of the town, said that some areas around Isior had also been enjoying power supply daily.
“I don’t know where the electricity supply came from, but it has improved recently to the extent that sometime I have to switch off some of my electrical gadgets,” she said.
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The story is the same with John Omoruyi and Festus Napoleon who both resides at Irhirhi area, off Airport road, Benin.
They said that the area usually have power up to 12 hours daily supply.
The duo, however, bemoaned the issue of estimated billing which they described as “extortion.”
Similarly, Osato Udiase who resides at Utese, Ovia North East Local Government Area, said that the communities around his area benefitted from supply between 12 to 20 hours daily “unlike before.’’
While commending BEDC for the improved electricity supply, he also lamented over the excessive billing system.
NAN reports that the state in general and residents of Benin in particular had experienced poor power supply for the better part of the last quarter of 2018.
The development was caused by a faulty power transformer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
The issue got to a climax that Governor Godwin Obaseki and other prominent citizens, including the Civil Society Organisations, called for the revocation licence of the BEDC. (NAN)