Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has dismissed Engr. Meyen Etukudoh from his position as Managing Director of Ibom Power Company Limited, effective immediately.
The announcement, made on Thursday , follows a public statement by Etukudoh attributing the recent statewide blackout to Savannah Energy’s cessation of gas supply to the state’s power plant.
In a statement issued by Ibom Power, the company explained that the blackout occurred after Savannah Energy stopped supplying gas to the Ibom Power Plant, which disrupted the plant’s ability to provide electricity to the state.
The statement also noted that despite multiple national grid collapses earlier in the year, Akwa Ibom had remained unaffected due to the Ibom Power Plant’s ability to operate on Island Mode.
However, the loss of gas supply, coupled with a reported fault on the 132KV Itu-Aba Transmission Line, led to the outage, according to Independent.
“It is noteworthy that during incidents of national grid collapses that have caused nationwide outages more than twelve (12) times this year alone, Akwa Ibom State was exempted from the nationwide outages because Ibom power plant continued to supply the State on Island Mode.
“Regrettably, our gas supplier, Savannah Energy recently sabotaged the laudable efforts of lbom Power by cutting off gas supply to the Ibom power plant. This loss of gas supply coincided with a reported fault on the 132V Itu-Aba Transmission Line, which transports power from the national grid in and out of the State, hence the state-wide outage”. The statement stated.
In a swift response to the ongoing controversy, Governor Umo Eno, through a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, relieved Etukudoh of his duties as part of a broader restructuring effort aimed at aligning the state’s power sector with the government’s ARISE agenda.
The letter directed that the Hon. Commissioner for the Ministry of Power take over the responsibilities of overseeing the company until further notice.
The dismissal follows recent scrutiny over the performance of Ibom Power, particularly after Engr. Etukudoh appeared before the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly’s Committee on Power. During that session, Etukudoh advocated for a significant upgrade of the state’s power plant but faced criticism for the company’s lack of contribution to the state’s internally generated revenue and its procurement of foreign loans without legislative approval.
