Extreme heat, power outage unsettle civil servants in FCT

Many civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) say they are unable to work comfortably in their offices due to the unbearable heat.

According to them, the situation is worsened by the almost total blackout being presently experienced in the territory.

The civil servants spoke to the newsmen in Abuja on Thursday.

Experts have said that the current heatwave being experienced in Nigeria is symptomatic of broader climate change and global warming trends.

Most of the civil servants who worked at the Federal Secretariat, said that they come to the office daily only to discover that for so many hours there was no power supply.

They also said that most offices rely more on generators to do their jobs, and this is affecting their productivity.

Mrs. Bose Olowu, a civil servant and staff member of the Ministry of Health, said that there had been an unstable power supply in her office.

Olowu said that power was not stable, adding that most offices relied on generators to work.

“The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) should try and provide electricity, as most workers don’t like coming to work due to the intense heat they experience.

‘`Government jobs are now being done in business centres, and such information is not supposed to be in the public domain, and because there is no power supply, information is being leaked, ‘’she said.

Mr. Kingsley Odigie described the situation as very frustrating.

According to him, the issue is something to be worried about because everything that is being done revolves around electricity.

He said that when there is no electricity, a lot of things go wrong.

"Now that I am in the office to work, I cannot do anything because there is no electricity.

“This is a wakeup call to the government and other stakeholders in the power sector to do everything possible to ensure steady electricity supply, ‘’ he said.

Mr Chukuma Okonkwo told NAN that the situation is discouraging.

Okonkwo said that even when at work, he could not concentrate because of the heat as most generators in the building do not have capacity to power the air conditioners.

“I leave my house because there is no electricity; I also come to work without electricity, so I am appealing to those concerned to do something about the situation, ‘’ he said.

Mrs. Patricia Oruwense, who works in the Head of Service Building at the Federal Secretatiat, said that the heat was worse on the 8th floor.

Oruwense said that it was not easy climbing the staircase to the 8th floor, adding that when power was off, the elevators do not work.

“I am tired of the situation and appealing to those concerned to do something about the power situation, ‘’ she said.

It would be recalled that the Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, had summoned the chief executive officers of two electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to a meeting over worsening supply situations in their regions.

Those invited to the meeting are the chief executive officers of AEDC and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBDC).

He also summoned to the meeting is Mr Sule Abdulazeez, Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

According to him, the management of other non-performing distribution companies will also be queried over non-performance as reports continue to filter in on situation in their regions.

“The ministry expects power supply to have improved across the country, as opposed to the current experience in some regions.

“Findings revealed that some distribution companies are deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN, while some power lines have also been damaged by vandals in Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan regions,’’ he said.

NAN also 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 will 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.