By OLUWASEYI ODUNEYE-OGUNWOMOJU

The Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Mr Adebo Ogundoyin, has called for federal intervention to address the prolonged poor electricity supply in the Ibarapa zone of the state.

The call was made via a motion presented in Ibadan on Tuesday by Mr Peter Ojedokun on behalf of the speaker and as the co-sponsor.

The motion is entitled “The Need to Urgently Call on Relevant Federal Agencies to Address the Prolonged and Deplorable State of Electricity Supply in Ibarapa Zone of Oyo State”.

Ogundoyin said communities in Ibarapaland: Eruwa, Lanlate, Igboora, Idere, Ayete, Tapa and Igangan, had endured more than 15 years of an erratic, and in many cases, completely nonexistent power supply.

According to him, many of these communities have been disconnected from the national grid.

“Those with electricity experience erratic and grossly inadequate supply for domestic, commercial and institutional needs,” he said.

He said that residents and business owners constantly receive estimated and exorbitant electricity bills from the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) without commensurate supply.

This development, he said, had compounded the economic burden on the people.

According to him, small and medium-scale enterprises, artisans, welders, cold room operators, ICT centres, farmers and agro processors have been forced to rely on petrol and diesel generators at high cost.

He added that public institutions such as the Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic and the Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology operate under extremely difficult conditions.

According to him, the situation has affected the institutions’ service delivery, research and digital learning.

He attributed the lingering crisis to outdated and dilapidated distribution infrastructure, abandoned projects, faulty transformers, weak feeders and the absence of functional substations to guarantee stable supplies to the zone.

While acknowledging the installation of solar street lights in some communities, he described the effort as insufficient compared to the urgent need for sustainable grid-connected electricity.

“Grid-connected electricity is capable of powering homes, industries and public institutions,” he said.

The speaker recalled that as part of federal intervention measures, the Federal Ministry of Power commenced the zone’s re-electrification in 2025, promising to construct three substations in Eruwa, Igboora and Igangan.

He, however, expressed concern that the projects were still to be fully realised, leaving residents to wait in prolonged uncertainty.

Meanwhile, the motion’s co-sponsor, Ojedokun, noted that electricity falls under the Concurrent Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

“It places its generation, transmission and primary regulation within the purview of federal institutions, particularly the Federal Ministry of Power and other regulatory agencies in the power sector,” he said.

The house consequently resolved to urge the executive arm of government, through the state Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, to engage relevant agencies to expedite action on the substations.

The lawmakers also called on relevant federal authorities to urgently assess, rehabilitate and upgrade transmission and distribution infrastructure serving the zone.

Furthermore, it called on the IBEDC to review its billing practices by stopping arbitrary and estimated billing where supply is nonexistent.

They said that customers were to be billed strictly for electricity consumed, in line with extant regulations.

The assembly also appealed to the Rural Electrification Agency to prioritise Ibarapa in its rural electrification and grid expansion programmes.

Meanwhile, the House Committee on Energy was mandated to interface with relevant state and federal authorities on the matter and report back within four weeks. (NAN)

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