The Benue Government has announced that it is working on enacting an electricity law to regulate the state energy sector.
Omale Omale, the commissioner for Transport, Renewable Energy, and Power, in an interview on Sunday, November 17, 2024, said that a draft of the bill was at the Ministry of Justice for vetting and onward presentation to the state executive council.
The commissioner stated that the bill would be sent to the House of Assembly as an executive bill as soon as the executive council approved it.
“The law will address the energy needs in unserved and underserved communities in the state.
“There are some communities that don’t have electricity infrastructure networks, which represent the unsafe group, while there are others with the infrastructure but don’t get regular electricity.
“As a ministry, we know the energy needs of all Benue people, and we are working on it,” he said.
Omale said the new Electricity Act gives states the opportunity to join the energy market, to generate, distribute, and regulate electricity within their states.
Jennifer Tema, a 67-year-old restaurant owner, noted the regular collapse of the national grid had cost so much damage to her business.
Ms Tema said she had been recording losses of her perishable foods worth millions of Naira as a result of the recurring power outage.
“In recent times, we have witnessed a bit of steady power supply, but this issue of the national grid has really cost me a lot of damage.
“My generator cannot take more than two freezers at a time. I lost over N2 million in the recent power outage. This is really affecting my business.
“I just hope that the state government will rise up to the occasion and get alternative energy sources for us to mitigate these losses,” she said.
Another resident, Dennis Tyosula, who operates a computer centre and betting shop in Makurdi, said the lack of a steady power supply was affecting his businesses.
Mr Tyosula said he was buying fuel between N1,200 and N1,350 per litre to power the generators at his two shops and, as a result, was not making any profit but incurring losses.
According to him, he uses between 16 and 18 litres of fuel daily when there is no power supply.
