Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
Mr. Godwin Obaseki, governor of EDO State, stated over the weekend that over $1.9 million has been lost in the last five days as a result of the disruption in gas supply to the Ossiomo Power Plant at Ologbo in the state’s Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area.
His government’s Ossiomo Power project aims to make the state self-sufficient in terms of power supply.
The 95MW facility was built through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ossiomo Power Company and powers government offices, hospitals, and streetlights throughout Benin.
Emotan Gardens Estate, Edo Tech Park, and Edo Creative Hub, among others, all have 22-24 hours of consistent electricity supply every day, with power being extended to Edo Enterprise and Industrial Park to encourage industrialization.
Obaseki, who met with members and executives of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, South-South zone, led by its chairman, Arch. Bishop Israel Ege, at the Government House in Benin City, called for immediate action to avert the crisis.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu, stated that the failure of Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, to ensure consistent electricity supply to the people of Edo resulted in the establishment of Ossiomo Power to free the people from darkness.
“You mentioned the Ossiomo Power Plant, which is why I said Nigeria’s problems are man-made,” he explained.
“Ossiomo has not been working for the past five days because someone went to turn off the gas station, and now there is no gas to power the system.” Nigeria has lost over $1.9 million due to the plant’s inability to supply electricity to the people.
“We’re losing revenue, and no one cares.” Instead, they are sitting in Abuja doing nothing,” he lamented.
“We sold our collective heritage all in the name of privatizing the power sector; we sold them to people who never understood or had the idea of developing the electricity sector or solving our electricity problems,” he said of the old system’s challenges.
“Rather, they bought it with the intention of profiting as soon as possible.” They did not invest but wish to reap and profit. They are the cause of Nigeria’s total darkness.
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“We have the Ossiomo Power Plant because BEDC refused to work,” he added. We attempted to assist BEDC in getting to work, but it simply refused and preferred to keep the people in the dark.
“We formed a committee to investigate the problems; we visited villages and communities to ensure that the debt owed to BEDC was paid.” As a government, we do our best to support and encourage them in their efforts to serve and work for the people.
“We decided not to follow them, but to take control of our destiny and reach an agreement with investors, which gave birth to the Ossiomo power plant in Edo State.”
Ossiomo began to work and power state government offices, but as of today, the power plant has been sabotaged and is no longer operational.
“Someone tampered with the flow station supplying gas to power the plant, and we are now losing millions of dollars as a result of this action.”
