I’ve received a tonne of messages, phone calls and DMs on the recent power outage incident at the Benin Airport which forced Air Peace to re-route and land at Abuja. Of course some people have used that as an opportunity to spread falsehood and erroneously drag the state government on the issue. But it’s important we know the facts. I took it upon myself as a citizen of Edo state to get the facts. Here are the facts:
1. The Benin Airport is a Federal Government ¹asset, owned and managed by the Federal Government.
2. The Governor announced plans for the airport, as well as the Nigerian Airforce Base in Benin to be connected to Ossiomo Power. But unlike other state assets like the stadium, secretariat, government buildings etc, there are lots of bureaucratic red tapes the government needs to overcome to get a federal establishment on Ossiomo Power.
3. BEDC has shown its incompetency time and time again, and that was on full display here again. The electric company failed to supply the airport the needed power for planes to operate without hitches. They’ve also been frustrating the government’s effort in making Ossiomo a mainstay in Benin and the rest of Edo state.
4. According to the Permanent Secretary, Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Engr. Stephen Uyiekpen, the government’s plan to get the airport on Ossiomo and avoid future occurrences of power outages at the airport is in full swing.
5. BEDC needs to either step up, or step aside.
– Tunde Tee Olatunji
