The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has assured residents of Lalupon Community and its environs of restoration of power supply within three weeks, starting from today.
This was as the company also assured that consumers under its jurisdiction can get their houses metered within 10 days after completing their process of application.
The IBEDC Management team gave the assurances at a press conference held on Tuesday at the company’s head office, Ring Road, Ibadan to give an update on challenges of power supply in Lalupon and its efforts to improve supply.
Present at the press conference were Mrs Angela Olanrewaju (Coordinating Head, Corporate Services); Mr Olamide Akinmusire (Regional Head, Oyo Region); Mr Ismail Nuhu (Regional Technical Manager, Oyo); Mr Christopher Lawal (Officer-in-Charge, Technical); Mr Temitope Alade (Business Hub Manager, Monatan, Ibadan); and Mrs Ajoke Akintunde (Technical Engineer, Monatan Business Hub).
Recall that there was a peaceful protest on Monday by residents of Lalupon and its environ against what they described as the continuous disconnection by IBEDC.
The protesters from communities, including Adewumi, Trailer Park, Adeleye, Erunmu, Fatumo, Atari, Lalupon, Ejioku, Ile-Igbon and Iyana-Ofa, among others, claimed that they have been disconnected for more than five years with no hope of reconnection.
Giving an update on the challenges of power supply in Lalupon and its environs, the IBEDC Coordinating Head, Corporate Services, Mrs Olanrewaju, tendered an unreserved apology to the aggrieved residents.
She, however, restated the commitment of the electricity distribution company to enhancing electricity supply to its customers.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by these challenges. We are using this medium to assure our customers that every effort is being made to expedite the completion of the 33kV substation project and restore full power supply.
“We have continued to engage the community at different fora. We have engaged with leaders, elders and heads of communities and also through the Community Development Associations (CDAs).
“In the month of June, 2024, we have meet with the communities several times, particularly at the weekly meetings.
“Even after the peaceful protest yesterday [Monday], we met with the community and another meeting is scheduled for Thursday [tomorrow].
“As a customer-centric company, we are deeply concerned about the supply situation. As such, we have held over 10 meetings with the leaders of the communities to explain the situation.
“These meetings with community leaders underscore our commitment to resolving these issues and improving service delivery.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work towards a more reliable and efficient power supply for Lalupon and its environs,” she said.
The Officer-in-Charge, Technical, Mr Lawal also gave a project update as it affected power supply to the Lalupon environs.
He said: “The substation project in Lalupon, funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of the IBEDC-PIP CBN CAPEX PROJECTS – 2023, is integral to our plans.
“This project involves the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) of the Lalupon 1 x 15MVA, 33/11kV Injection Substation.
“Key components of the project include construction of Lalupon 33kV Feeder from the Iwo 30/40MVA, 132/33kV Transmission Station;
“Proposed 33kV T-Off from the Lalupon 33kV Feeder to serve as an in-feed to the Lalupon 1 x 15MVA, 33/11kV Injection Substation;
“Construction and installation of the Lalupon 1 x 15MVA, 33/11kV Injection Substation with the radiation of 2 No. 11kV feeders,” Lawal added.
The IBEDC Management team also spoke about some of the challenges facing the company in delivering on its mandate, including funding and and right of way.
As a way out of the problem of funding, Mr Lawal declared: “As part of our commitment to resolve the long-standing issues in this area IBEDC, included this project in the Performance Improvement Projects (PIP) submitted to NERC in 2022;
“We got approval from NERC. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the funding for the project which is over N1.5Billion.
“When the CBN intervention fund in the form of loans to DISCOs came up, we decided to take advantage of that. However the project couldn’t commence in December 2023, as CBN put the intervention fund on hold.”
Speaking on the problem of the right of way, the Officer-in-Charge, Technical said: “In March 2023, a bridge collapse in the Olodo area resulting in significant damage to several poles on the network.
“This caused part of the Lalupon 33kV Feeder to be isolated due to lack of right of way to re-erect the broken poles. Consequently, 32 substations are out of supply, affecting several communities in Lalupon.”
He, however, said, as a solution or alternative, 65 per cent of the IBEDC customers on the feeder are currently receiving supply with 40 transformers on load shedding, while options to back-feed some of the remaining Distribution Substations (DSS) from an alternative feeder are being explored.
As quick wins, he announced that there is an extensive use of isolators with existing network arrangement, adding that this is with a timeline of three weeks.
He also said there is an ongoing cascading of load between feeders (load from New Asejire- Lalupon), with a timeline of four weeks.
Lawal added that, as a medium-term solution, there is the conversion of Odo Ori 11kV Feeder to 33kV Feeder, estimated to be complete between eight and nine weeks.
Speaking on the issue of delay being experienced by customers in getting meters, the Coordinating Head, Corporate Services, Mrs Olanrewaju, assured that the problem was over.
She said IBEDC customers can now heave a sigh of relief, saying: “Metering is now very easy. The process has been liberalised. Once the customer pays the required fees, he/she will get his meter in 10 days.”
