The Oyo State Government has commenced the closure of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) offices in Ibadan due to the alleged refusal of the company to pay over N400million tax.
However, the company kicked against this move of the government which it described as retaliatory alleging that the action was borne out of the government’s huge indebtedness to the company.
In a statement signed by the Chief Operating Officer, John Ayodele on Wednesday, IBEDC alleged that the Oyo State Government owed the company a whopping consumption outstanding of N450million for three years.
“The Oyo State Government on Wednesday, commenced the sealing of our offices within the state over some suddenly contrived debts labelled revenue bills and personal income without due notification”, a part of the statement said.
The company also claimed that it had made efforts to get outstanding paid initiated several engagements through correspondences and physical meetings, but all these efforts yielded no result.
It said, “No business in this country can run successfully with such a huge outstanding, the power we distribute to customers must be accounted for and paid for, we have no choice but to disconnect the Oyo State Secretariat.
“So it is worrisome to see that the government has sealed off our offices with this underhand and arm twisting tactics, instead of paying the debt owed. This was not done in good faith and it would have a damaging effect on the business and service delivery to our customers.”
The company, however, called on Governor Seyi Makinde to resolve the issue in the interest of all concerned as the closure of the IBEDC office would further worsen the power challenge on residents and commercial activities within the state.
