…Begs IKEDC to fix faulty transformer

Residents and business owners on six streets — Raji Oba, Awoyemi, Folarin, Ajala, Olonade and Akinshola — in Alimosho area of Lagos State have decried the over three months’ power outage.

Frustrated by the prolonged blackout caused by a faulty transformer supplying power to the area, the residents took to social media asking the Ikeja Distribution Company to fix their faulty transformer.

According to them, the power outage which started since second week of March 2025 is crippling businesses and severely impacting the quality of life in the community.

The residents called on Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) to urgently look into situation and address the prolonged power outage by fixing the faulty transformer in the area.

It was gathered that the six streets are categorised under the Band A, and ought to enjoy 20 to 24 hours of power supply daily.

However, these consumers complained that this has not been the case for over three months since the transformer was taken away.

They added that the prolonged lack of supply of electricity has made them vulnerable to attacks from marauders who operate under the cover of darkness.

One of the residents, Micheal, said the lack of power supply had worsened commercial activities in the community, adding that access to water resources had also been affected.

Michael said: “So, we are pleading as a community, as one, for Ikeja Electric and the appropriate authorities to listen to our cries to save our communities.

Olonade-Akinsola and other streets have always been a good community and we want it to remain like this.”

“We have been struggling in darkness,” another resident, who identified herself as Mama Chioma, said.

“We have been in total blackout for over three months, crippling businesses. We are pleading with IKEDC to urgently address this,” she further pleaded.

In a letter dated March 16 and addressed to IKEDC by the Olonade-Akinsola community titled: ‘Urgent request for Band A intervention on prolonged power outage in our community’, it noted that several efforts and reports have been made to IKEDC’s customer service and local office, but the situation remains unresolved.

“The power failure has severely impacted our daily activities, businesses, healthcare services and overall well-being in these six streets.

“We are yet to receive a clear response regarding an estimated time for restoration.

The continuous blackout has caused significant discomfort, economic losses, security concerns within our community.

“In the light of the above, we respectfully request urgent intervention and directive to the appropriate department to expedite the resolution of this issue,” the letter read in part.

The community further called on the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to urgently intervene in the situation.

Source: Tribune

Few hours before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s scheduled visit to Benue State, the Makurdi–Lafia–Abuja road has been rendered impassable due to heavy flooding.

It was observed that intense floodwater has overtaken the highway, leaving motorists and passengers stranded.

The affected route, a major corridor into Makurdi, has forced commuters to either postpone their journeys or seek shelter in safer areas.

The timing of the flood has raised concerns as it coincides with heightened security and logistical movements in preparation for the President’s one-day visit to commiserate with the people of Benue over the recent massacre in Yelewata.

More to come…..

…..The 17 nominees were all presented before the Senate committee by the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Basheer Lado, who divided them into three categories.

The 17 candidates nominated by President Bola Tinubu to oversee the affairs of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, Rivers State Civil Service Commission and Rivers State Local Government Service Commission have officially declared their assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The assets declaration came on the heel of security clearance by the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police.

The Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed this during the screening exercise by the Senate ad hoc committee to oversee the activities of the Rivers Sole Administrator, Vice Adm Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd).

The development comes barely one week after President Tinubu transmitted the names of nominees to the Senate for confirmation.

The five nominees for the Rivers State Civil Service Commission are Dr Barikor Baribuma (Chairman), Lot Egopija, Ms Maeve Ere-Bestman, Mrs Joy Obiaju and Mrs Charity Lloyd Harry.

Rivers State Electoral Commission has seven nominees – Dr Michael Ekpai Odey (Chairman), Mr Lezaasi Torbira, Prof Arthur Nwafor, Prof Godfrey Mbudiogha, Prof Joyce Akaniwor, Dr (Mrs) Olive A. Bruce and Prof Chidi Halliday.

The category of Rivers State Local Government Service Commission also has seven appointees namely Israel N. Amadi (Chairman), Linus Nwandem, Lady Christabel George-Didia, Dr Tonye Willie Pepple, Richard Ewoh, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ofik (retd) and Sammy Apiafi.

The 17 nominees were all presented before the Senate committee by the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Basheer Lado, who divided them into three categories.

The nominees for the Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board are expected to take place on Wednesday at the Senate.

Bamidele who doubles as the chairman of the 18-member committee, however, reaffirmed the Senate’s commitment to upholding democratic processes in the oil-rich state.

He said, “Let me quickly inform distinguished colleagues and members of the public that the nominees who are seated before us have gone through security screening by the various security agencies, including the Department of State Security as well as the Nigerian Police.

“And none of them had had any issue with security clearance, which is germane to what we are doing here. We will just be speaking to your CV because I will have no issues with security clearance.

“Members of the public are also to be told that we have also insisted that they should go through the constitutional requirement of going to do their assets declaration by the Code of Conduct Bureau, which they have also complied with.

”The Ekiti lawmaker also disclosed that once they finished the screening exercise, the results and recommendations would be presented to the Senate leadership at the next plenary.

“Finally, it is also for me to report that as a committee we did not have any petition against any of the nominees who are here. So there is no inhibiting factor that would really prevent us from screening any of the nominees.

“The screening exercise itself is a process and all of these individual steps that I have mentioned are part of the process.“

Once we are done with this, we then make our recommendations to the Senate in plenary for the confirmation or otherwise based on our findings and recommendations,” he said.