By  Gabriel ENOGHOLASE,  Benin
CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Power Holdings Company of Nigeria Plc, Engr. George Chiatula has disclosed that electricity consumers in the four states under its control owed the company over N8.2billion.

This came on the heels of the break through in revenue generation by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company which now collects over N1billion monthly attributing it to the co-operation  and hard work of both the junior and management staff of the company.

Speaking with journalists in an interview yesterday in Benin, Engr. Chiatula however listed the affected states to include Edo, Delta Ekiti and Ondo .
He also listed the military, police as well as Para-military institutions such the Prisons, Immigration as among those indebted to the company.

He however disclosed that a Debt Management Unit has been set up and which goes around, analyses the debts to enable the management of the company follow up, saying that there has been positive response in the payment of the debts.

Asked how he was able to improve on the revenue generation profile of the Benin Zone, he said,” I personally went round with my management staff to meet all the staff.               We have 3,707 staff, so I met everybody and we held discussions, frank discussion and in fact in each of the locations, I spent nothing less than two hours on the issue of revenue generation”.

“They told me their problem and I said, ok, those problem would be looked into; those I can addressed, I will and those I cannot addressed, we have to carry them forward for a while. We came back to address those problem and the revenue generation picks up”.

Another strategy which he was employed to shore up the revenue profile was the purchase of operational vehicles for the seventeen districts that makes up the zone, saying that with the vehicles, staff of the company was able to monitor the pre_payment meters and marketing.