Jos electricity laments N115bn owed by consumers

The  Managing Director, Jos Electricity Distribution Plc, Engr. Hashim Ibrahim Bakori has said post-paid customers across the company’s franchise states of Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, and Plateau were indebted to the company to the tune of N115 billion.

Bakori who decried the colossal debt said the debt had greatly impinged on the operations of the company stressing that the post-paid customers’ debts were different from the cost of energy losses as a result of energy theft.

Bakori made the disclosure yesterday at the Launch of the Company’s 5-year Corporate Strategic Plan to kick-start a new goal to be achieved by the company at Elien Event Centre, Rayfield-Jos.

According to him, “If nothing is done to bridge the gap, a lot will go wrong and that is why we are launching the Corporate Strategic Plan and by the time we are done, people will start seeing improvements on our energy supply across our franchise States”.

The Managing Director further explained that Jos DisCo had “consulted reputable companies in the world to come and partner with us in moving the company forward”.

Bakori who was optimistic of the company’s improved service delivery assured customers that “From today you will see a very new Jos DisCo”.

He however lamented that despite the laudable efforts by the new management of JED PLC to achieve qualitative service delivery to customers, vandalism and energy thieves still remain huge challenges to the company.

According to him, in 2021 alone, vandals and thieves have torched about 200 distribution transformers, armored cables, copper earth wires, transformer oil, feeder pillars, copper bars, several spans of aluminum conductors, line insulators, etc”.