Markets will be shut down if power is privatised - Traders

South-East traders have vowed to resist any plan by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, to hand
over Aba and Ariara power distribution unit to Afrigem.
President-General of the group, Ichie Okwudili Ezenwankwo, who addressed journalists on Saturday after an enlarged meeting of the traders in Enugu, threatened that any move to take the power unit away from the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, would be totally unacceptable.
He said if the alleged plan was allowed to stand, it would cripple businesses in the area.
According to him, “Geometric power company has always claimed that they will provide 24 hours power supply in
Aba since 2005. That has not happened and Aba has been suffering until 2013, (November), when the EEDC took over.
“We all know that things have been improving and we are hopeful that it can only get better under the EEDC.”
He added that, “recently, we read in the papers that the BPE is about to hand over Aba and Ariara distribution unit to a company called Afrigem, which we understand
has purchased Geometrics.
“We are very concerned that if this happens, our hope for reliable power supply will never be realized. This is why we shall resist such plot with every available effort.”
The market leader, who lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption efforts, urged him not to allow
a few cabal to cripple South-East economy.
He further stated that if the BPE failed to heed to our stand, “we shall not hesitate to go on demonstration;
but I believe that government will do the needful. If it entails shutting down markets, we will do that, because that is plan is totally unacceptable.