Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, has issued a one-month ultimatum to the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, to restore power supply in Bayelsa State or face nationwide protest.
Chairman of IYC, Central Zone, Kennedy Olorogun, gave the ultimatum when the group played host to some officials of PHED at Ijaw House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Olorogun said IYC invitation of PHED for dialogue was imperative, following what he described as an unbearable epileptic power supply in Bayelsa State
“The poor power outage in our state is unendurable even when our people are paying bills or are ready to pay for the bills.
“Ijaws are among the major contributors of natural resources to the Nigeria economy, yet been denied of her right to basic social amenities.
“Thus, we are giving a one-month ultimatum to PHED to as a matter of urgency, restore power supply to Bayelsans with effect from Thursday 15th August to 15th September 2019, else be ready for Ijaw Youth Council massive protest in Bayelsa State, PHED head office and FCT Abuja,” IYC warned.
Meanwhile, the management of PHED has said that the power outage currently been experienced in Yenagoa and other parts of Bayelsa State is as a result of a faulty 132KV Owerri-Yenagoa lines belonging to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN.
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PHED Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. John Onyi, who confirmed that its customers in Bayelsa State are currently in darkness, assured that the technical crew from TCN were currently on ground to fix the faulty lines with a view of restoring power supply.
Onyi, however, appealed for the patience and understanding of all residents, customers and government functionaries in Bayelsa, while waiting for the restoration.
“The customers of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital are presently experiencing a forced power outage.
“The outage was caused b a faulty 132kv Owerri-Yenagoa lines belonging to Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN. The unfortunate incident occurred a few days ago.
“However, TCN technical crew has been long dispatched to the site with a view to fixing the lines and as soon as it is fixed, supply to the capital city will be restored,” PHED said.
