Daniel Atori 
The NigerState Government has expressed dismay over the disconnection of some major offices in the state by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) over a debt amounting to N1.9 billion. The House of Assembly complex, Office of the SecretarytotheStateGovernment, IBBSpecialistHospital, State Secretariat complex and Water Board office are said to be among the offices affected. The development is said tohaveresultedinwaterscarcity in Minna as water vendors now demand between N300 and N500 for a truck of 10-litre jerry cans.
The AEDC Public Relations Officer in Minna, Mohammed Adamu, who confirmed the development, said the debt was incurred over the years. However, the state government disagreed with the total debt, claiming it is just a little over N1 billion. The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Ibrahim Matane told journalists the debt, which he insisted is a little over N1.1 billion, was inherited from the previous administration.
He said: “We have invested over N3 billion in providing transformers, service lines and others in the AEDC to ensure the provision of power to various communities in the last six years of the present administration. “The state government expended N46 million monthly to pay Chanchaga Water Works for power supply by AEDC as electricity bills, hence the need for the use of a consultant to verify the claimed billings by the company.”
But the AEDC said: “The company and the state government are still having meetings but the headquarters have instructed that, for any negotiations to scale through, the state government has to pay the accrued January, February and March of this year’s debt of over N114 million.”
