Festac residents lament erratic power supply

RESIDENTS of Festac Town in Lagos State, has urged the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, and Eko Distribution Company, EkoDisco, to urgently look into the lack of electric power ravaging the historic community.

They also tasked the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to prevail on EKDC to stop exploiting the residents by placing them on band B, whereas most of them don’t get up to five hours of light a day.

Speaking on their ordeal, an artisan in the town, Mr Felix Ajayi, who spoke with Vanguard, said: “Power supply since President Bola Tinubu came to power has been nothing to write home about. 

“EKDC claimed to place Festac on Band B, but the power ordeal is worse than what we can explain.

“Businesses are no longer thriving here due to a lack of power supply.”

Also speaking, a resident of 23 Road in the town, Ugochukwu Anyanwun, said: “It is disheartening that Festac is on the verge of total collapse. The same way the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, is less concerned about the state of decadence in the estate, particularly the roads, 

“The Amuwo-Odofin LGA is also not helping matters. If you report the state of the community to the local government officials, they would interpret it as bitterness against the chairman. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu should come to our aid.”

In the same vein, a pensioner and resident of 41 Road in the town, Chief Odike Ubandinuju, said: “I complained the ordeal to the Agboju office, they told me to go to Marina. That the EKDC is in a better position to address the challenge Festac is going through. It is obvious that the band B claim is a mere mirage as we are paying so much for darkness.” 

We’re not aware of complaints— EKDC

Reacting to the allegations, the corporate communications officer of EKDC, Mr Babatunde Lazaki, said: “I am not aware of the complaints. I won’t be able to speak on the dwindling power supply because Festac is a big place, so I will need to get to the Festac team, and they will brief me on the issue. So we can take it from there.”