Our correspondent
After more than four days, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution company has cleared air on the cause of power outage to its depressed customers in Eket and Uyo in Akwa Ibom State.
Its customers in some parts of the state had waited in vain for days thinking that it was the usual PHED’s pranks usually done to boost business for dealers of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol.
The unbearable situation is caused by the removal of fuel subsidy resulting in fuel price hike with attendant festering inflationary rate on products and services coupled with high cost of transport fares across the state and the country.
In a four-paragraph press release signed by PHED management tagged: Outage Notification of June 4, the management attributed the cause in the state to a fault in 132 KV at Aba-Itu Transmission Line.
‘‘Meanwhile, we are working assiduously with the TCN team to restore power supply.’’
However, most streets, roads and compounds are lit by diesel plants or generators owing to the lacking PHED services, throwing Uyo Municipality into ‘dark city.’
Expectedly, queues have resurrected in most petrol filling stations opened for sales in Uyo, Akwa Ibom capital and other local government areas.
In fact, petrol dealers are making brisk businesses despite the new price regime of N511 in Uyo per litre of the product.
Most filling stations in Uyo sell the product beyond the fixed price regime by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
While some filling stations sell the already subsidised product at N540, others sell at N520 and N550 depending on the station manager.
NUEE Directs members to join strike
Electricity consumers are in a rough time as the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has directed its members to withdraw their services nationwide on Wednesday, June 7 and join the strike action proposed by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal government.
In a memo signed by its acting general secretary, Dominic Igwebike, the NUEE urged its members to comply with the directive and stop work from the early hours of Wednesday.
‘’All National, State and Chapter executives are requested to start the mobilisation of our members in total compliance with this directive. Please note that withdrawal of Services nationwide commences from 0.00 hours of Wednesday, June 7, 2023. You are encouraged to work with the leadership of State Executive Councils (SEC) of the Congress in your various states with a view to having a successful action” the memo reads.
