By CONSTANCE ATHEKAME

Many traders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), say their businesses are folding up following the power outage being presently witnessed.

They described the situation as frustrating and embarrassing.

Some of traders who reside in Karu, ACO Estate, Deidei and Dutse said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

Most of the traders told NAN that they depend on power to run their businesses.

NAN also reports that many parts of the territory, especially the satellite towns had been without power for days, even weeks.

Mr Andrew Okorie, who runs a cold room in Karu said that he spent a lot on diesel to preserve some perishable items in his freezer.

“I spend nearly N20,000 daily on diesel to run my cold room, It’s not funny at all and I am making little or no profit, especially with this unstable power supply,” he said.

He appealed to the Federal Government to do everything within its power to fix electricity to cushion the effect on consumers.

Mrs Agnes Odiase, who also runs a restaurant in Karu described the situation as “frustrating and chaotic” as her customers were not comfortable due to the incessant power outage.

“I can’t boast of power supply for one hour at a stretch. It just comes and goes every one or two hours and this is affecting my business seriously,” she said.

A barber In ACO, Estate, on Airport Road, Mr Segun Ayomide, said that he had to increase the price for his services from N500 to N1,000 for an ordinary haircut in order to meet up with his expenses on fuel.

Ayomide said that in the past three days, power supply had not been stable in the estate and this was making him lose money.

Mr Raymond Okon, a fashion designer in Dutse said that the power outage was affecting his business and as such he was unable to meet his customers’ demand.

Okon said that for days, there might be no electricity in his area, adding that he needs it to do the job.

“I am unable to meet up with my customers demand because of the power supply in my area and I am aware some electricity consumers are getting up to 18 hours supply, especially those on Band A.

“My appeal to government is to do everything possible to improve power supply in the country to reach every citizen and not favour some and abandon others,” he said.

Mrs Caroline Uneru, who sells cold drinks and water in Dei-Dei said that the electricity situation in her area was discouraging.

Uneru said that the little business she was using to feed her family had gone down due to poor power supply. “I am tired of the situation, the little business I am doing to feed my family is going down every day because there is no electricity to freeze my goods.

“In this heat period, nobody wants to buy hot drinks or water, so I am appealing to government to do everything it can to alleviate our suffering,” she said.

NAN reports that the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) had attributed the continued decline in electricity generation on the national grid to the persistent gas supply constraints affecting several thermal power plants.

NAN recalls that the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, had assured Nigerians that power supply would improve within two weeks.

He also apologised to Nigerians for the current epileptic power situation in the country.

“With the committee we have set up, the feedback from gas suppliers, and the timeline for repairing the gas pipelines, I can say that within two weeks we should start seeing improvements in power,” he said. (NAN)