The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has ordered the payment of the outstanding electricity bills of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the state. Briefing newsmen Wednesday on the outcome of the week’s State Executive Council meeting, the Commissioner, Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, said, “The state is moving with the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company to reconnect all government offices in Aba and parts of Umuahia by paying off the accumulated bills owed the EEDC by previous administrations in the state. “For many years, government offices in the state have been functioning without public power supply, except for those operating occasionally with mini-generators popularly called, ‘I pass my neighbour.’“However, to make working conditions for government facilities to be conducive, the state government has stepped up the move to reconnect all.”Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Engr. Ikechukwu Monday, explained, “Most government facilities are off the grid and if there is no power, it makes working conditions not conducive. “The reconnection started with health facilities like in Amachara General Hospital, and not only government facilities, but the entire Abia.”He further disclosed that the state government is talking with Aba Powers to see how to assist them, stating that the state government is also looking at the rural areas.

Source: Punch October 12, 2023 00:46 UTC