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Nigeria: PHCN Forfeits N21 Million Bill to Garki Market Traders
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Daily Trust (Abuja)
9 July 2008
Posted to the web 9 July 2008
Nasidi Adamu Yahaya
Abuja
There are indications that the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Garki District, Abuja, may have forfeited about N21m in unpaid bills in Garki model market, Daily Trust authoritatively gathered.
Following this accumulated bill, the market was cut off from electricity supply for about four months now, but the head of the PHCN, Garki District, Engr. Tobi Abayomi magnanimously reconnected the light after four months of black out on the strength of a letter of undertaking written by leaders of a section of the traders in the market under the aegis of Garki Model Market Traders' Association (GAMMA)
The letter which was written on behalf of the entire traders of the market, was to the effect that they would remit the sum of N150,000 every month to PHCN to service the outstanding N21million bill.
But the traders at a meeting called by the GAMMA officials stoutly opposed the plan to make them pay the outstanding bill of N21m.
At the meeting which was attended by Daily Trust, the traders wondered how PHCN expects them to make double payment for a particular bill because according to them, they had been consistent in paying their bills over the years and therefore wondered how the N21m came about.
In a swift response, the Chairman of the traders' association, Prince Edozie C. Ugwu, said that the arrears was not up to N21m even as he could not put a figure to it.
However, documents obtained by Daily Trust indicate that Garki Model Market was indebted to PHCN to the tune of N21, 483,827.59 as at March 2008.
Speaking with our reporter later in an interview, the Chairman said sequel to the meeting, the PHCN Manager tasked the traders to pay a monthly payment of N150,000 to balance the outstanding debts and an additional N100,000 for the restoration of electricity to remain constant. And all parties concerned have duly signed the agreement.
However, the spokesman of Abuja Market Management Limited Mr. Innocent Amaechina, in a telephone interview, said that despite all efforts AMML had made to offset the whopping debt; they have not received the required cooperation from the traders.
According to him "we met a bill of N90m in Wuse Market when we took over in 2005. We were able to resolve that with PHCN, with the cooperation of the traders, but in Garki, their Association said they have been handling that successfully and therefore do not require our help.
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As a responsible management, we have taken it upon ourself to seek solutions to the issue by the several meetings we have had with the traders and also with PHCN but it appears that certain people are benefiting from the status quo and would rather have it maintained", he concluded.
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| Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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