Patrick Umeh, the utility boss who used to be the commissioner in charge of markets, market rates and competition at the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), disclosed to newsmen in Aba today after taking delivery of 31 brand new Innoson buses to enhance the field operations of the power company’s staff, that Aba Power “has been using Innoson vehicles and we are satisfied with the performance.

“Even before we began operations last year at Aba Power, a member of the Geometric Power group founded and chaired by Professor Bart Nnaji, a former Minister of Power who has also been the Minister of Science and Technology, we were instructed to give priority attention to Nigerian-made products and services which meet our standards”.

Nnaji was one of the leading scientists and engineers in the world before he left the United States for Nigeria in 2004 to help revolutionise the country’s ailing power sector.

Umeh, a former executive with the Los Angeles Water and Power Corporation in California, United States, revealed that Aba Power last year acquired the latest model of Innoson’s pick-up van, saying it competes effectively with Toyota Hilux brand in its fleet.

“We were thus encouraged to purchase an Innoson passenger bus that sits 18 persons comfortably for our staff, and its performance is no less impressive”.

Aba Power placed an order for 81 Innoson mini buses and pick-up vans last month, and yesterday took delivery of 31.

Umeh described the prices of the local vehicles as quite competitive, too, calling it “good news in these economically trying times in the country.

“We plan to increase Innoson vehicles in our fleet soon”.

Umeh also disclosed that Aba Power has, in line with Professor Nnaji’s vision, been buying locally manufactured cables and wires, including the ones used in the new 1,500-kilometre overhead wires in nine of the 17 local government areas of Abia State serviced by Aba Power to boost electricity supply in the ring-fenced area.

“We sourced the wires”, he said, “from manufacturers like Cutix in Newi, Anambra State, which is a publicly-traded company, and other producers like the ones in Ibadan in Oyo State, and in Arepo, Ogun State.

“Their wires and cables are among the best anywhere in the world, and Nigerian people and businesses easily attest to this fact”.

The Aba Power MD acknowledged that patriotism and nationalism also drive his company’s massive patronage of Nigerian goods and services.

Noting that it is rare to find American government officials drive foreign auto brands, including those manufactured or assembled in the United States, Umeh pointed out that the same applies to government officials in places like Germany, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, South Korea, France, and China.

“Even when Indian and Chinese vehicles were not competing effectively with foreign brands in terms of technical quality and aesthetics, their government leaders insisted on driving them and made visiting foreign dignitaries ride in them.

“What does that tell you? Charity starts at home because patriotic acts like this provide jobs for your people, create immense business opportunities, transfer technology, and conserve foreign exchange”.

The utility leader remarked that massive domestic support for Chinese auto manufacturers enabled China to become within a short period the world’s biggest auto market.

He added: “Chinese auto firms like BYD (Build Your Dream) are now not just leading global vehicle producers but also the greatest manufacturers of electricity vehicles as well as batteries which power electricity vehicles.

“This is an important lesson to all Nigerians who want our country’s economy to grow rapidly”.

The warning is contained in a statement this morning signed by the Aba Power Limited managing director, Patrick Umeh, who notes that the “criminals are trying to cash in on the enthusiasm of Abia people to acquire both single-phase and three-phase meters to commit fraud against unsuspecting electricity consumers”.

Displaying copies of fraudulent demand notices, Umeh, a former commissioner with the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in charge of markets, rates and competition, explains that the notices are “surprisingly not in the name of Aba Power Limited but in the name of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company(EEDC)”.

The nine LGAs serviced by Aba Power were part of the territory covered by the EEDC until February 2022 when Aba Power acquired the ring-fenced area, however, the billing for power supplies remained in the EEDC name until six months later.

“To make the illegal demand notices and advisories on prepaid meter payment look genuine”, said Umeh, who was also an executive with the Los Angeles Water and Power Corporation in California, “the criminals ask customers to pay exactly the same amounts charged by Aba Power for our services and products”.

In a fake advisory to a customer at130 St Michael Road in Aba, the Abia State commercial nerve-centre, she is requested to pay N63,061.27 for a single-phase meter into the account of Advanced Energy Management Solutions with any bank whereas Aba Power is working with Holley Metering Ltd, as approved by NERC, for prepaid meter installation in the nine LGAs. She is also given a false Remitta payment reference number of 110768132753.

The fraudsters, in a further move to make the transaction look authentic, provide telephone numbers through which they can be reached, namely, 084700100, 08150825365 and 08150825365.

A single-phase meter costs N63,061.32 while a three-phase meter costs
N117,910.69. The payments can be made in full or in installments for up to
three months.

Mr Jude Efidi, a sales manager at Aba Power, explains that the meter asset
belongs to Aba Power, hence the payments made by customers for meters
under MAP Scheme will be refunded to them in 36 months through energy
credit.

“This is a far-reaching measure to ameliorate the burden of acquiring prepaid meters in these difficult times, and Aba Power is working hand in hand with NERC for the speedy implementation ion of this national programme”, he states.

“Our chairman, Professor Bart Nnaji, a former Minister of Power and one of the world’s best-known academic engineers, has directed Aba Power to become the first electricity distribution firm in Nigeria to provide all its customers with prepaid meters, despite the fact that Aba Power is less than a year old ”.

Umeh describes as regrettable a situation “where NERC and Aba Power led by Professor Nnaji are working frantically to make things better for Abia people, some criminals are employing various tricks to defraud them of their hard-earned resources”.

He advises customers to pay only into the designated account with Access Bank.

“Customers who need more information”, he says, “can walk into any of our offices and seek advice from various service teams”.

“Geometric Power is playing a critical role in the life of every person and business in Abia State and it is legally and morally incumbent on each of us as the chairman of the local government in his or her place to take the assignment seriously”, Aba Power managing director, Patrick Umeh, quoted the chairman of the Association of Local Government Chairmen (ALGON) in Abia State, Ike Anyatonwu, as saying in a statement he released after a meeting between the chairmen and Geometric Power representatives at Ebiza Hotel in Aba.

“Professor Bart Nnaji, the founder and chairman of Geometric Power, has done what no-one has done in the history of the Southeast”, continued Anyatonwu who is also the chairman of Isiala Ngwa South LGA, “by establishing this world-class integrated power project in Abia State to provide constant, quality and affordable electricity to homes, offices and factories in the majority of local government areas in the state”.

The ALGON chairman commended Aba Power for continuous improvements in the number of hours “we get supply daily and the quality”, saying that it is in recognition of the “preeminent role which Geometric Power is playing in the economic, social, manufacturing and technological development of the state that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has been giving Professor Nnaji and his team unflinching support, including directing the relevant LG chairmen to cooperate with them as chief security officers in their respective domains”.

The meeting with the LG chairmen was called at the instance of Governor Ikpeazu’s Chief of Staff, Chief Okey Ahiwe, who described the electricity infrastructure in the state as “a huge public good rather than a mere asset belonging to a team of Nigerian and international investors”.

Geometric Power has over the months waged a spirited campaign against vandalism of power infrastructure in its coverage area, as well as energy theft.

Vandalism has been against especially distribution transformers and armoured cables while energy theft involves mostly individuals and businesses who use roadside electricians to ensure that their meters do not capture the use of such heavy power-consuming objects as wielding machines, pressing irons, electric kettles and air conditioning systems.

“These practices”, declared Governor Ikpeazu on various occasions, “are absolutely unfair to a group of persons who have invested close to $600m to make life better for our people”.

Dr Ikpeazu has promised to use all “resources available to me to stop the criminal acts”.

The arrests of a number of young men in Abia State in recent months for their roles in vandalism against power infrastructure have led to a decline in the monthly rate of the incidence.

Other LG chairmen who attended the meeting are The Hon Clinton Ebere of Aba South, Victor Ubani (Aba North), Dr E. U. Shabba (Ukwa East), Chief Uchenna Jumbo (Osisioma), Chief Chinwendu V. Ochulor (Isiala Ngwa North), and Chief Okey Kanu (Ukwa West). Others are The Rt Hon Joy Nnanta (Ugwunagbo) and Chief Mrs Uloma Nwogu (Obingwa).

From the Geometric Power team were Air Commodore Nicholas Orjiudenta, a retired engineer and intelligence expert with the Nigerian Air Force who heads Geometric Security Service; Engineer Andrew Amaje who represented the managing director of Geometric Aba Ltd, Engr Ben Caven; Engr Livinus Nmaram of Aba Power Ltd; and Engr Jude Efedi, the Commercial Service manager of Aba Power.

The meeting was moderated by Anthony Alozie, a well- regarded management consultant who used to be a top financial executive with the American oil services giant, Halliburton Ltd.

“I am excited at the patriotic sentiments of participants in the meeting and their vision for Abia people which synchronises with that of the state government and, of course, that of Geometric Power group”, Alozie stated.

This fact was made known today in a statement by the managing director of the utility firm, Patrick Umeh, a former Commissioner with the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), who also disclosed that the enumeration will start on Tuesday, December 6.

It is understood that the enumerators, who will go from house to house for four months, include computer scientists, statisticians, geographers and related professionals using the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to conduct the exercise.

Umeh, a former executive of the Los Angeles Water and Power Company in California in the United States, said that the enumeration became necessary because “Aba Power is embarking on a major network expansion to enable it to provide not only 24-hour service from year to year to all consumers but also quality power to make manufacturers in Aba and environs become more competitive”.

Among other benefits, the enumeration will help the company to determine transformers and other electricity distribution infrastructure which are already overloaded or may be overburdened soon.

“We are using the GPS to identify the location of each structure and the consumers there, and provide each a unique identification number which will be used to deal with any problem from each structure”, Umeh explained.

He disclosed that some electricity consumers are exploited by their landlords and even co-tenants through non-provision of separate meters.

“These consumers pay electricity bills to the landlords and fellow tenants, as the case may be, but the latter pocket the money, making the helpless paying-consumers suffer unfairly when they are cut off from power supply for nonpayment”, he observed.

“We will end the exploitation by providing each consumer with a separate meter as we carry out the consumer survey”.

The Aba Power boss disclosed that some places within the company’s coverage are still without electricity.

“This is unacceptable in the 21st century as Nigeria is in a hurry to develop rapidly. All these gaps have to be closed immediately”.

An engineer with the utility firm, Jude Efidi, told journalists in Aba today that following massive and sustained improvements in power supply in recent months in the area serviced by Aba Power, local and foreign manufacturing firms which for years depended solely on self power generation on account of inefficient public electricity supply “are fast turning to us because it is far cheaper to obtain power from us”.

Companies like Nigerian Breweries and Guinness Breweries have for long been providing their own power because the poor and unpredictable supply from the national grid caused them to lose their sensitive and expensive equipment and machines.

“The era of what economists call suppressed demand is coming to an end as far as power supply in the nine LGAs in Abia State is concerned because of the dramatic improvements in our service delivery”, Efidi enthused.

“The enumeration has become imperative to enable us to plan effectively not just for now but also for the future, as is the case in developed nations.

“To our chairman, Professor Bart Nnaji, a former Minister of Power and a world-class engineering professor, it is an article of faith we provide world-class service ”.

My people, have you noticed the improvement in the number of hours, and quality of electricity Aba Power has been supplying in Enyimba City since September 2022?
This is the result of our team’s concerted effort to serve you better.

In our determination to continuously improve our service delivery, we have concluded arrangements to conduct electricity consumer enumeration to enable us determine areas that require upgrade in our electrical infrastructure such as the poles, transformers, meters, wires, etc, so as to make life better for our people.

Aba Power’s enumeration team will start a 3-months house to house survey from Dec 2022.  Kindly cooperate with them when they visit your home or workplace between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM to ask you a few questions. With the help of mobile-home-buyers.com, selling a house is a lot easier. Without a doubt, everything will work out perfectly. In today’s very competitive real estate market, we offer creative presenting and marketing services that will help you sell your home faster and stand out from the rest. It should not be hard for you to sell your house. Our group gives a full study of all events happening around the world. A great deal of work went into getting these agreements worked out. We know what we’re doing and care about it, so we can trust our work. Visit https://www.mobile-home-buyers.com/oregon/.
With your cooperation, we will get the accurate data we need to plan for the rapid industrial development of Enyimba City. Together we will achieve even more!

For more enquiries please call 070022276973 or visit www.abapower.com

Aba Power!
Nke a bu nke anyi!

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