Edo Govt Denies 5% Equity Shares in Ossiomo Power

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Edo State Government on Tuesday denied allegations that it has five percent shares in Ossiomo Power, an indigenous electricity generation and distribution company in the state, clarifying the power company was just a private firm and the state government was one of its customers.

Ossiomo Power has been shut down since September 1st due to ownership tussle between the Nigeria partners and the Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology (CCETC).

It generates 95MW of electricity which it supplied to government buildings including Government House, Secretariat buildings, the NUJ, street lights and private organisations in the state.

Already, 115 subscribers of Ossiomo Power include the Edo State Government have indicated interest to switch back to Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

Speaking at a stakeholders meeting with Ossiomo Power subscribers, Director General of the Edo State Electrification Agency, Saturday Omozokpea Egbadon, said available records showed the state has no shares in Ossiomo Power.

Egbadon said 80 percent of state government facilities have migrated to a dedicated line provided by the BEDC.

He said management of Ossiomo Power was yet to officially inform the state government about troubles in the firm.

Egbadon insisted the state government provided the 11kva lines Ossiomo subscribers were connected to.

According to him, “We cannot keep the state like that. We have to act quickly. Ossiomo did not consult the state government. We did not play any role in their crisis. We are just their customers.

“We were told the state government has shares in Ossiomo but records showed that we are their customers. We don’t have any five percent shares. They are using our facility. We pay over N2m monthly to vend.

“Before this crisis, we have given Ossiomo licence to operate in Edo Central. The trouble is between Ossiomo and the Chinese partners.”

Also speaking, Chief Technical Officer of the BEDC, Kingsley Achengbu, assured that adequate power would be provided for the Ossiomo subscribers.