The Edo State Government has denied allegations that it holds a five per cent stake in Ossiomo Power, an indigenous electricity generation and distribution firm.

The government, while stating that Ossiomo Power was a private firm, clarified that it was one of its customers, just like any other individual.

Ossiomo Power had been shut down since September 1 due to an ownership tussle between Nigerian partners and Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology (CCETC).

It generates 95MW of electricity, which it supplies to government buildings, including the Edo Government House, the Edo NUJ secretariat, private organisations, streetlights, and others.

Already, 115 Ossiomo Power subscribers have indicated interest in switching back to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting with Ossiomo Power subscribers, the Director General of the Edo State Electrification Agency, Saturday Omozokpea Egbadon, stated that available records indicated the state had no shares in Ossiomo Power.

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

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

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

He said, “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 per cent shares. They are using our facility. We pay over N2m monthly to vend.

“Before this crisis, we had given Ossiomo licence to operate in Edo Central. It is between him and the Chinese partners.”