Residents of three areas in DutsinMa local government area of Katsina have on Thursday returned electricity bills for the month of February back to the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) over poor electricity supply.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that the residents were from Unguwar Yandaka, Unguwar Dan Rimi and Kanti all in the Dutsin Ma town.
Power supply in the country has continued to decrease in the last few months which prompted the minister of power, Adebayo Adelalu to promise improvement in the next week.
“With the committee we have set up, the feedback from gas suppliers, and the timeline for repairing the gas pipelines, I can say that within two weeks, we should start seeing improvements in power supply,” the minister had said.
While the power supply continues to drop, residents of the affected areas met and decided not to settle the bill for the month.
They collected all the bills and delegated three youths to return them to the Dutsin Ma sub office on Thursday.
“As you can see,” Aminu Aliyu, leader of the delegates said in a short video clip. “We’re at the Dutsin Ma zonal office if KEDCO to return the bills they took to our parents’ houses. We’re returning the bills because they have not been providing the services (electricity).
“We’ve also included a letter requesting clarifications on several issues relating to power supply in our areas,” he said.
In the statement the representatives handed over to KEDCO officials as seen by 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE, Aminu Aliyu expressed surprise that despite “prolonged lack of electricity supply” the KEDCO went ahead to distribute the bills.
“We find it unjust to pay for services that have not been properly rendered. For this reason, we’ve collectively return the bills issued to us,” the statement signed by Aminu Aliyu noted.
The statement also sought clarifications on who should repair or replace damaged transformers and why KEDCO officials in Dutsin Ma don’t go round to inform residents when there are power related issues.
Meanwhile, an expert in the power sector, Sani Garba told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE that the residents are shooting themselves in the foot.
“It’s a worthless fight because the amount will continue to accumulate into their respective accounts; the money will catch comfort in their net arrears,” he said, saying they should rather find a way to discuss with KEDCO on improvement and other clarifications.
