- Niger government discloses that it has invested over ₦3bn in AEDC to provide transformers and other services.
- AEDC had earlier issued a notice of disconnection for government facilities.
According to the secretary to the Niger state government, Alhaji Ahmed Matane, the government has invested over ₦3 billion in the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) to provide transformers and other services for communities. Matane disclosed this during a news conference in Minna on Wednesday.
The AEDC, on April 15, issued a notice to disconnect all government facilities from power supply over a ₦1.9 billion debt the state government was owning the company. The company went ahead to disconnect all government facilities such as the state house of assembly complex, state secretariat, office of the Secretary to the Niger government, water board and all government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Matane said that the state government only owed the company ₦1 billion, of which about 50 per cent of the debt was inherited from the previous administration. He protested the claims by AEDC that the state government owed the company ₦1.9 billion, explaining that the state government instead invested more than ₦3 billion into the company to purchase of transformers and other light services.
Matane said that the state government had been paying ₦46 million to the company monthly, adding that the government had engaged a private consultant to verify the validity of the claims made by AEDC.