The Benin Electricity Distribution Company, (BEDC), on Thursday, said that two members of its staff, Ibrahim Salisu, and Olubolaji Damilola are currently on the run after they were found guilty of committing an infraction and the matter reported to the police.
The Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive officer of BEDC, Dr. Henry Ajagbawa, who stated this at a press parley to mark his 100 days in office, said the case, which was a criminal one, was handed over to the police for further investigation after the disciplinary committee of the company found the duo guilty of contravening the company’s policy.
Ajagbawa stated that the company no longer had tolerance for corrupt practices, noting that the company had instituted 109 policies to guide the staff on the steps to take to get the job done.
“I must tell you that the new management will not tolerate any sharp practices from staff. Two are currently on the run because their criminal activities were reported to the police. The case is still being investigated by the police and they will be arrested to help the police in their investigation.
“The management has instituted 109 policies that will guide the staff on how to do their job optimally as well as what is expected of them at every point in time,” he added.
He noted that the company is prioritizing the customers and would ensure that they get power when available, urging the customers to pay promptly in order to serve them better. He also said that infrastructural decay is a major problem in the sector.
He said, “One of the inhibitors to performance in the organisation was the level of infrastructural decay and lack of work tools. This resulted in suboptimal performance across the company over the years. The board and management quickly took steps to commence the corrective process as a panacea to elicit and encourage performance.
“A fleet of over 130 vehicles were abandoned in a state of disrepair and disuse. The new management has since revamped over 80 vehicles to service the operations of the company.
He said,” Network optimization in one is the critical pillar to migrate to an era of customer-centrism. The new management has embarked on feeder realignment, not only to match regulatory imperative but as a fulcrum of providing the excellent services, we promised our customers. The company will also ensure that the customers get good services but I will urge them to also pay their bills so that we can serve better.
“The heightened level of customer dissatisfaction has been masked for so long but now has to be confronted head-on. We exist because of the customer and are not deluded that customers do not have choices. In this regard, we noted the high level of service disconnection of many areas of our franchise from the grid for many years.
“Management is now working closely with communities to understand the situation better with a view to designing and implementing unique solutions to each community. In this regard, we respectfully call on all communities that have received the worst of our services over the years to please come forward for dialogue on how to quickly address their concerns, to enable us to serve them better,” he added.
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