Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), has decried huge debts arising from non payment of electricity bills by residents and customers in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.
This was made known by the Head, corporate Communications of the company, lbrahim Sani Shawai. He noted that the huge debts are not always serviced or cleared in the case of “debt evasion”.
In a statement by the company, it said, “This is not a good development for any organisation with a huge financial demand to both staff and other power distribution stakeholders within our franchise areas and beyond.
“ There is an observation regarding change of tenancy and occupancy where customer needs massive sensitization through various customer awareness platforms as a lot of accumulated outstanding debt on the premise (debt evasion) remains unsettled by the previous occupier since many customers like tenants change /vacate the houses/Flats/Premises without clearing the outstanding Electricity bills to KEDCO.
“This accumulates and increases the outstanding debt regularly every month. The new occupant who comes and takes the ownership of the house remains unaware about the realities.
“It is in this regard that the management seeks to inform the general public to as a matter of responsibility, verify through enquiries from KEDCO any possibility of previous outstanding arrears on the premise before he/she takes the occupancy of the premise”. The statement added.
The management decried, that the result of non-verification of occupancy status was that the outstanding arrears were never paid by the previous and the current occupants and KEDCO keep changing the name of the customer in database without realizing the past outstanding arrears.
This is an “evasion” of debt as neither the old tenants nor the new tenants pay the outstanding debts. This is not to mention the landlords or the owner of the houses.
“The debts is really not good for business as it is neither serving as a catalyst for growth nor financial strength.
“ If the consumers are alert and conscious about this process, a new tenant/ buyer would always make sure to check the outstanding electricity bills from KEDCO office on the captioned premise before buying/taking the house on tenancy. This will make sure that the old occupant shall clear all the dues to KEDCO before making any deal for selling the premise or giving it on rent to new occupier (s).”
