Kaduna Electric has said that the Governor of Kebbi State, Nasir Idris, has settled all the outstanding debt owed for the electricity consumed by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the state.
Head of Corporate Communication, Kaduna Electric, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, disclosed this in a statement.
He added that the governor has committed to promptly settling the monthly bills of the state government going forward and also promised to invest in power infrastructure that will improve the availability, quality and reliability of power supply which will fast-track industrialization and economic development in the state.
He further said the governor has also promised to devise strategies to engage the public, the traditional institutions and other community leaders to partner with Kaduna Electric to devise effective strategies that will make the residents of Kebbi State treat the payment of their electricity bills as a civic duty that will make Kebbi State be categorized as a viable state which will encourage Kaduna Electric to sustain electricity supply to the state.
Abdullahi said: “Based on the stated facts, we wish to debunk the insinuations making rounds that Kebbi state government has paid Kaduna Electric for electricity supply in favour of individual customers during the holy month of Ramadan and therefore customers are not expected to pay for the electricity consumed during the period.
“The governor of Kebbi State, Governor Nasir Idris, alongside some key government officials and advisers invited the management of Kaduna Electric, led by the Managing Director, Umar Abubakar Hashidu for a meeting to actualize the plan of delivering improved electricity supply to Kebbi State.
“Despite the numerous challenges of poor generation, the Birnin Kebbi Transmission Station fire incident and the general lack of payment for the electricity consumed by customers, the management of Kaduna Electric resolved to work with the Kebbi State Government to improve power supply. to the state by utilizing the Service Based Tariff (SBT) mechanism introduced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Authority (NERC).
“The SBT entails the allocation of power supply to different feeder bands with corresponding tariff reclassification in accordance with the more hours of electricity supply enjoyed by customers.”
He added: “After a joint analysis of the status of electricity supply for the feeders in Birnin Kebbi, an agreement was reached to improve electricity supply from the previous average of 6 hours daily to an average of 12 hours daily, with selected feeders grouped into three categories that are allocated 16 hours, 12 hours and 8 hours on a daily basis.
“It is pertinent to note that the improvement in electricity supply was supposed to lead to a tariff increase for the customers in Birnin Kebbi in accordance with the definite hours enjoyed.
“However, the Governor in his magnanimity agreed to partly pay for the differential as a subsidy and support for the Ramadan period.”