N47b Indebtedness: AEDC to cut off Presidential Villa, MDAs, others + Full list
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company has issued a notice of disconnection of power supplies to the Presidential Villa, better known as Aso Rock, and the Federal Government's Ministries, Departments, and Agencies due to their debt.
According to the electricity distribution company, the government entities and offices implicated owe N47,195,620,266.06.
The Presidential Villa, which measures six metres, has a debt of N923,873,150.
The Chief of Defence Staff, who oversees barracks and military formations, has the biggest debt of N12,001,481,606, followed by the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory, which has 423 metres and owes N7,573,120,732.
The Ministry of Finance has a debt of N5,432,741,321, and the Liaison Office of the Niger State Government in Abuja owes N3,448,373,803.
According to the notification of cutoff signed and distributed by AEDC Management on Monday, Aso Rock Villa and the others included in the notification have 10 days to clear their outstanding balances to prevent a humiliating cutoff of their power supply.
The Notice states in part: "The Abuja electrical Distribution Company (AEDC) is compelled to publish the names of Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies with long-standing unpaid debts for services supplied to them through the provision of electrical supplies.
"In that our earlier attempts to compel them to fulfil their responsibilities were ineffective.
"The relevant MDAs are hereby given notice that AEDC, shall after the expiration of ten days from the date of this publication, that is, after Wednesday, February 28th, 2024.
According to Adamu Dantani, the AEDC Public Relations Officer in the state, the decision to disconnect the Government House, General Hospital, and other MDAs was made to recover all outstanding debts owing to the firm by the state government, which totaled several billions of Naira.
Dantani stated that the disconnection would have been completed months ago, but was postponed due to the participation of the Niger State House of Assembly.
He claimed that four months after the firm and the executive branch of government intervened, the government violated the agreement.
He noted that under the terms of the deal, the state government was supposed to pay at least 80% of the obligation, which it did not.
Other governmental institutions impacted by the disconnect included the state Water Board, schools, all General Hospitals, the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, and the Office of the Head of Service, among others.
