AEDC Disconnects Niger Water Board, Others Over N2bn Electricity Debt

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has disconnected the Niger State Water Board and other public institutions from its supply lines due to an accumulated debt of about N2 billion incurred by public institutions in Niger State.

The Minna General Hospital, the IBB Specialist Hospital, the State Secretariat complex, and the Secretary to the State Government’s office were all affected.

It was unclear whether the exercise had an impact on similar institutions outside of the state capital.

According to Journalists, the disconnection of the public institutions happened before the easter holiday, but the impact was not known until the resumption of official business after the holidays.

Following the action of the AEDC, the State Water Board has not been able to pump water for domestic and other public use since last Saturday.

According to findings the situation has been made worse by the inability of the standby generating sets at the Chanchaga water works to power the installed machines.

The development resulted in scarcity of water in Minna and environs leading also to water vendors hiking the price of the commodity from N300 to N400 for a truck of ten jerry cans of 25 litres.

The investigation also showed that part of the Minna General Hospital was also running on generators.

Some ministries in the state secretariat were also using generators to power their offices and equipment, leaving those without the capability in the dark.

When contacted, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, the AEDC’s Public Relations Officer in Minna, corroborated the story, adding, “We took the move after being pushed to the wall.

A series of reminders and personal contacts were made to the government but no productive result was obtained.

For several years, no government official was willing to remark on the situation.”