By Chijioke Kingsley
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The new Managing Director of Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JED), Engr. Abdu Bello Mohammed has said the country’s economy depends largely on constant electricity supply.
Mohammed said for Nigeria to make any headway in the economic sector, it must fix the energy problem, adding that the power sector should pay a premium when looking for indices for economic growth.
Assuming office on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, the new JED boss said his coming on board will set a new paradigm for effective power supply in its four franchise states.
According to him: “If we don’t change the narrative of electricity in this country, I don’t see Nigeria making any progress in fixing the economy, because the economy largely depends on reliable supply of electricity.
Speaking further he said: “We have some new changes to make to reposition the company for better performance in the areas of customer satisfaction, provision of high quality electricity supply and making sure that meters are available to customers”.
The new energy boss said to achieve this, new hands that will add value in the transformation journey will be recruited.
“The journey will have full transformation restructuring activities that will be on a continuous basis, starting from today”, he assured.
Outlining other crucial areas in the company’s operation that need immediate attention, he noted that electrical faults that hamper effective power supply will also top his first line priorities.
“Electrical faults within the network will be addressed assiduously. We will have a rapid response team to ensure that any fault emerging as a result of the operations must be attended within the specific targeted time given by the regulatory commission.
“New customer connection is another area we have to deal with. The customer numbers for the company are too low. We should not be talking about 500 to 600 thousand customers in the four franchise States. We have a lot to do in this area.
“We also need to take care of staff relationships with customers, indiscipline will not be tolerated, corruption cannot be tolerated, we will leave our doors open for meaningful comments and criticism in order to address some of these challenges”, Mohammed said.
He however requested partnership with the media on campaigns against vandalism, energy theft, meter tampering and bypass.
“These are common practices in the system. Some of these sharp practices are caused by third parties, while some are caused by officials who are working against the interest of the company”, he said.