By Yarima Haruna, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi Development Forum (KDF), has commenced sensitisation of electricity consumers on effective use of power and the need to guard against vandalism of electrical installations.
Thegazellenews.com reports that the sensitisation/town hall meeting which was organised in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) took place at Unity Conference Hall, Zuru.
The event drew participants from all spheres of life including: traditional institutions, members of Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), National Association of Welders, Youth and Women organisations among others.
Different issues concerning power supply such as: low voltage, epileptic power supply, prepaid metres, estimated billing and vandalism among others were deliberated.
In his submission, the Chairman, KDF, Alhaji Usman Abubakar, said the forum is a non-profit and non-partisan organisation committed to providing leadership in harnessing and channelling the state’s vast human and natural resources toward sustainable development.
He said the essence of the programme was to listen to complaints from customers, raise public awareness on efficient and productive use of electricity for economic growth and development, and to strengthen understanding of consumers’ rights and responsibilities.
This, according to him will facilitate access to quality service, complaint redress mechanisms, timely payment of bills, and community protection of transformers, feeders, and infrastructure.
He stressed the need for KEDCO to provide a structured platform for engagement with consumers and other stakeholders to build trust and improve service delivery.
The Chairman identified lack of awareness among electricity consumers as one of the major obstacles to understanding their rights and privileges.
Abubakar observed that community have a critical role to ensure steady supply by protecting electrical installations, paying their electricity bills at and when due and reporting any fault to the company for immediate action.
“Electricity should not be seen merely as a source of light, but as a strategic enabler of economic growth.
“It drives agriculture through irrigation, processing, and storage, supports small scale enterprises and underpins healthcare, water supply, education and security.
“Our goal is to promote a culture of responsible electricity use and active community participation,” he revealed.
He used the medium to inform the public that over the years, successive civilian administrations in Kebbi had demonstrated commendable commitment to improving electricity supply.
The Chairman noted with satisfaction that the present administration had recently released the sum of N650 million to KEDCO for the procurement of 15MVA transformer and pledged N150 million monthly support to improve electricity access for vulnerable communities.
On his part, Alhaji Sani Muhammad-Makinu, Regional Manager, KEDCO Kebbi, represented by Mr Iliya Danjuma said the company is only a distributor of power received from the generating company.
He said every month the generation company supply power to distribution companies across Nigeria, saying: “ours is just to distribute the light to customers and at the end of the month we pay for the power we consumed.
Alhaji Abdussalam Muhammad, Chairman, National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Birnin Kebbi Forum, recalled that the Forum was established in 2023 to listen to complaints by customers.
He advised customers that whenever they have any complaints, they should not hesitate to report to KEDCO for immediate action, “however, when the company failed to address it then write to us within 24 hours we are going to summon them and the problem will be resolved.
“But make sure that you are paying your electricity bills regularly.”
In his speech, the Emir of Zuru, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi-Mika’ilu, represented by Alhaji Alhaji Suleiman Sami, Chief of Dabai Chiefdom, appreciated the organisers of the programme.
He observed that electricity had become almost everything in life because it touches health, agriculture, education, and above all, it remains critical to economic growth at all levels.
The Emir thanked the state government for its support to the electricity company to improve electricity.
He urged the participants to make efficient use of the knowledge gained for judicious and effective use of electricity.
