Ekiti licenses investors for power generation, others

.Oyebanji restates ban on use of school premises for social events

Ekiti State Government has licensed 14 electricity vendors as part of efforts aimed at ensuring adequate electricity generation and distribution, as well as the provision of electricity meters to consumers in the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Prof. Mobolaji Aluko, while addressing electricity investors and other stakeholders, at the weekend, in Ado-Ekiti, said that the state government was at the forefront in the quest to exercise full powers under the Electricity Law Enactments Act of 2023, which permitted both federal and state governments to decentralise Nigeria Electricity Market and granted states in Nigeria the powers to register electricity providers and investors to generate adequate electricity in their states.

Aluko said that the licensing of the 14 electricity investors would ensure that they would be permitted to embark on electricity generation, distribution, the establishment of mini-grids and the provision of meters for consumers in the state.

The commissioner said that the step would address the issue of shortfall in electricity supply to the state, noting that while Ekiti State requires about 120 megawatts of electricity, it currently receives 20-25 megawatts from both the 132/33 KVA at Omisajana substation in Ado-Ekiti and the Omu-Aran feeder line in Kwara State.

He, therefore, urged stakeholders and electricity consumers to be vigilant and take proactive steps to protect electricity cables and other power installations in their areas from vandalism, theft and meter bypassing.

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of Ekiti State Electricity Regulatory Bureau David Dare Samson, disclosed that three of the licensed electricity investors are distribution companies, four are generation companies, two are mini-grid generation companies, and five are Meter Assets Providers.

In another development, Oyebanji has restated the state government’s ban on the use of public school premises for social functions, adding that any head of school that flouts the directive would be heavily sanctioned.

The ban, according to the governor, is to preserve and protect facilities in public schools and make them conducive to learning.

Oyebanji expressed displeasure at the way facilities in schools were being destroyed by people who hired them for social engagements, such as burial parties, and wedding receptions.

He added that such a trend could destroy the functionality of public schools if allowed to continue unabated.

He gave the warning at his Ikogosi Ekiti hometown, at the weekend, during the 2024 Ikogosi Day celebrations and launch of the N1 billion Development Fund, which was attended by dignitaries across the nation.