THE Ibadan Electric Distribution Company, IBEDC, has promised to restore power to Ilesha as soon as possible. The company said the decision was sequel to the intervention meeting hosted by Governor Gboyega Adetola of Osun State and with the Oba’s committee constituted by Ijesaland to facilitate   the restoration of power.

The company, in a statement signed by Angela Olanrewaju, the head of branding and corporate communications, said: “The Board and Management of IBEDC as a customer centric organisation have committed to restoring power to Ilesha as soon as possible.”

On his part, John Ayodele, the chief operating officer, IBEDC, said in response to the appeal from the governor and the people of Ilesha that the company would commence initial preparations required to restore service from next week. He said the IBEDC would send an advance party comprising of its technical and administrative staff to critically assess and see what could be salvaged for gradual restoration of power.

He said the administrative staff would also commence the cleanup and tidying of the office facilities for resumption. Besides, Ayodele said some of the staff serving in Ilesha would be replaced while recruitment of qualified indigenes of Ilesha would be made to ensure better services to customers and engender confidence from the community. “We are ready to resolve one of the major issues that led to the crisis which is metering and estimated billing.

“IBEDC   will within the next few weeks clear the backlog of meters as all customers that paid under the previous metering schemes that show evidence of payment will be metered. Also unmetered customers that are willing to pay can take advantage of the new metering scheme, Meter Asset   Provider, MAP, introduced by NERC to bridge the metering gap , as we  have  contracted seven  vendors under this scheme.

“This will greatly reduce estimated billing which has been a thorny issue. IBEDC will also strengthen its community engagements platform and explore strong communication/feedback mechanisms to encourage customers to report grievances and issues in an amicable way. Finally, IBEDC hereby request that the committee will also commence a strong advocacy drive within the community to ensure a safe, cordial and conducive working environment for our staff,” he said.

Ayodele asked the Ilesha community to support the gesture through the immediate payment of their huge outstanding bills as this will greatly facilitate the rehabilitation works and show goodwill from the customers.

– Apr. 29, 2019 @ 10:19 GMT |