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BEDC Installes 25% Meters Of Total Target In Its Coverage Areas

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The management of Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, Plc says the distribution company has installed over 25per cent of its 90,870 meters target for customers under the first phase of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) expected to be concluded in the next three months.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a Town Hall meeting on ‘Facilitating metering and Combating Electricity Theft in BEDC states’ organided by Stakeholders Democracy Network (SDN) and attended by critical stakeholders in the electricity sector held last Thursday in Benin, the Edo State capital.

The Management of BEDC said it was implementing the NNMP in its four franchise states of Delta, Edo, Ekiti and Ondo with a view to eliminating estimated billing and is targeted unmetered customers over a period of six months.

READ ALSO: BEDC Sets To Distribute 90, 870 Meters In Edo, Delta Others In 2021 First Quarter

“BEDC is now installing meters on the pole for customers in Bands A, B, and C, as the initial focus to curtail energy theft and meter bypass, while the company has also began community metering where transformers of over 600 communities have been metered so far”, the communique said.

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While acknowledging growing joint efforts by communities in combating electricity theft in the BEDC coverage areas, the communique noted that metering under NNMP is free, hence customers do not have to pay.

It said to this end, BEDC and industry stakeholders can sue and be sued on accounts of electricity theft and consumer rights violation.

READ ALSO: BEDC Suspends New Service Based Tariff For 14 Days

“The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) is carrying out electricity consumer education and interfacing between customers and Discos for complaints resolution” the communique further reads.

According to the communique, among the challenges being confronted by BEDC during the NNMP installation process included meter tampering, rejection of meters by some customers, aggressive and violent customer behavior and extortion of some customers by some unscrupulous agents for meter installation and procurement.

The communique quoted BEDC to have assured that corrupt staff members of being punished, while the company urged electricity customers approached by its agents for the purpose of extortion to utilise BEDC’s whistle blowing channels to report such electricity theft and corrupt acts.

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READ ALSO: BEDC Introduces Service-Based Tariff

The company assured stakeholders that it would immediately launch investigations into allegations of customer extortion over meter installation and procurement.

 

 

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Man, 38 Escapes Assassination Attempt In Benin

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Innocent Omoruyi

By Omokha Andrew

A 38-year-old activist, Innocent Omoruyi, narrowly escaped assassination in the early hours of Wednesday, July 19, 2023 as his residence at Obe Community,Sapele Road in Benin city was attacked by yet to be identified gun men.

The attack which eye witnesses say was viciously executed on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 bore the markings of a dreaded cult group terrorizing Benin City, the state capital.

The Obe, Sapale Road incident, it was learnt, happened soon after Omoruyi left the house to attend to matters of interest some few metres away from his home.

The assailants were said to have shot sporadically in their frustration as residents scampered for safety.

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However, Omoruyi escaped unharmed.

One of the eye witnesses who craved anonymity said: “The felons apparently went for the kill, weilding guns and other dangerous weapons. “We are shocked that they didn’t see Innocent Omoruyi who was just some few metres away from home when they arrived”.

“How that happened, only God knows and it was obvious that it wasn’t his time to die yet and just before that not long ago his business place on Lagos Street, Benin City was burnt down in the middle of the night by unknown arsonists.

“This sequence of events is not ordinary. We know it’s politically motivated due to the role he played in the last general elections. He has been advised to go into hiding at the moment for his personal safety”, he concluded.

When contacted, the police Public Relations Officer Chidi Nwabuzor said he was yet to get any information as regards the latest incident. He promised to feed our correspondent with relevant details as soon as they become handy.

Our information source however revealed that the matter has already been incidented at the Love World Police station on Sapele Road, Benin city.

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Nigeria To Earn Over $4bn Revenue As FEC Okays Concession Of Abuja, Kano Airports

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Nigeria will earn over $4 billion in nominal revenue as the Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday okayed the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, to the Corporacion American Airport Consortium, a Luxembourg-based company.

James Odaudu, the Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the Minister of Aviation, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

According to him, the Council also approved that the Federal Ministry of Aviation would be renamed the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace.

READ ALSO: ATMs To Be Upgraded For Loans Services As CBN Gives Banks Ultimatum…

The statement noted that the company would make combined upfront payments of $8.5 million for the concession of NAIA and MAKIA.

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He added that the development would spur evidential growth within the Nigerian aviation industry.

In alignment with the Aviation Roadmap, approved by Mr President on 18th October 2016, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace is delighted to inform all stakeholders, both local and international, and the media, that the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano has been approved by the Federal Executive Council,” the statement said.

READ ALSO: Peter Obi, LP Must Pay N1.5million To Access Documents – INEC

In December 2022 and January 2023, Corporacion American Airport Consortium was announced as the preferred bidder for the airport’s concession after scaling through a series of evaluations of technical and financial bids.

Nominal revenues mean income not adjusted for inflation and decreasing purchasing power.

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Russia Expelled From Council Of Europe Amid War With Ukraine

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The Council of Europe says it has expelled Russia with immediate effect after 26 years of membership because of the Ukraine war.

The Committee of Ministers took the decision in a special session, the rights body announced in the French city of Strasbourg on Wednesday.

Earlier, Russia had already declared its withdrawal from the Council of Europe after it had taken steps to exclude it.

On Tuesday evening, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted unanimously in favour of Russia’s exclusion.

Russia joined the Council of Europe on Feb. 28, 1996.

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Together with the formal notification of the withdrawal, the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe also received information from the Russian Federation on Tuesday about its intention to denounce the European Convention on Human Rights.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, the leaders of the Council of Europe once again condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

READ ALSO: Ukraine: Horror As Russian Forces Shoot People Queuing For Bread

They expressed their solidarity with the Russian people, who continue to belong to the European family and share its values.

The body said it would continue to stand by Ukraine in the fight against the aggressor.

The Council of Europe monitors the observance of human rights in its 46 member states and is not part of the European Union.

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The body reacted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago by suspending Russia’s membership, this decision was considered historic.

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