Business owners in FCT count losses amid worsening power supply

The business owners who operate in Lugbe, Kubwa, Kuje, Area 10 and Nyanyan spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

NAN reports that the blackout had lingered for more than a month.

It would be recalled that the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu said that the blackout being experienced in the country was due to a low supply of gas to the power generating companies.

He, however, assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was working to ensure outstanding payments were made to the companies to resolve the blackout.

He said that the payments would ensure improved gas supply and increased power generation.

“This will also enable distribution companies to supply more electricity to Nigerians.

“We acknowledge the current unsustainable situation, and we expect a turnaround immediately,” he said.

According to the minister, efforts are being made to ensure a quick resolution of the blackout being presently experienced in the country.

They said that the situation had affected their businesses.

According to them, it has not been easy with them as the business is their source of livelihood and appealed to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC)’ and other relevant authorities to do something about it.

Comfort Ologue, a cold-room operator in Lugbe said that in the past two months, the power situation had worsened in the FCT and had affected her business.

Ologue said had to throw away the meat and other proteins due to a lack of electricity to power her cold room.

She said that sometimes at night when power was restored, it was for a few hours.

Augustine Goke, who operates a barbing saloon in Lugbe said that poor electricity supply had equally affected his business.

Goke appealed to the government and management of AEDC and relevant stakeholders to urgently address the situation and save them from this hardship.

Amos Adama, a Fashion Designer in Area 10, said that the lack of a stable electricity supply had slowed down his business.

According to him, he has not been able to meet up with his customers’ demands because of the power outage and this has made him lose most of his customers.

“Please I am appealing to AEDC and those concerned to find a solution to the problem as this is affecting our income,” he said.

Mrs Angela Okolie, a Fashion Designer at Kubwa said that in the last three days, there had been a blackout in some parts of Kubwa.

She said that she could not even fuel her generator as the price of petrol had gone up and this was affecting her business.

“We have been without electricity supply for three days and this has affected my business, it is not easy coping with the situation,” she said.

Mr Mohammed Abdul who operates a laundry business in Nyanyan told NAN that the situation had turned him into a beggar as he could not do his business without electricity.

He said that he could not afford the high cost of diesel to power his generator to do the business, adding that there was no constant electricity supply in his area.

“So I have to resolve to begging from friends and relatives to feed myself and family,” he said.

Also, some residents of Kubwa, especially 2/1, describe as partial the attitude of AEDC in its rationing of electricity.

According to Mrs Ese Williams, we have not had light for almost a week, and AEDC did not even flash it.

Williams said she made several complaints to their Customer Care line and even spoke with them, on Friday, adding that she was told her area had a technical fault and it would be resolved.

“Tell me, how long does it take to fix it, all the foodstuff I stocked in my refrigerator that was supposed to last me for about three months have gone bad.

” As I speak with you, nothing has been done, we still do not have light.

Honestly, this is very frustrating” she said.

NAN reports that AEDC had also apologised to residents over the power outage being experienced in its franchise areas.

“We understand the inconvenience this may cause and sincerely apologise for this disruption.

“We would like to inform you that we are aware of the unstable power supply experienced in recent times, essentially caused by insufficient power allocation to us.

”This has constrained us to implement load curtailment directives across our franchise to manage the situation for grid stability,” it said.

The company said that the insufficient power allocation would involve occasional temporary interruption of power supply to certain areas for a limited period.

The company said that it was working diligently to minimise the impact of these outages.