By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Edo Leaders of Thought, a prominent civil society organisation, has raised fresh concerns over the financial dealings between Ossiomo Power Company and the Edo State Government under the immediate-past administration of Mr. Godwin Obaseki.
In a statement signed by its coordinator, Momodu Adams, the group dismissed a circulating unsigned document allegedly linked to Ossiomo, describing it as “faceless, poorly conceived, and lacking credibility.”
“No credible organisation issues unsigned press releases,” the group said, stressing that the evasiveness reflects a pattern that characterised Ossiomo’s dealings in previous years.
Following what it described as mounting public confusion over the Ossiomo power saga, the group said it conducted a private, independent investigation. The findings, it noted, revealed “troubling patterns of opacity, inflated costs, and questionable practices that demand answers.”
The investigation, according to the group, confirmed that the Edo State Government holds no stake in Ossiomo Power Company Limited, which is fully privately owned. The challenges affecting electricity supply in Edo, it added, were internal to Ossiomo and impacted both government and private subscribers alike.
The Edo Leaders of Thought took a swipe at the Obaseki administration, accusing it of deliberately avoiding prepaid metering for government establishments throughout its eight-year tenure. Instead, ministries and agencies allegedly operated under post-paid estimated billing, which enabled the company to charge hundreds of millions monthly without verifiable consumption records.
“For the entirety of Mr. Obaseki’s tenure, Edo State Government facilities were never metered. Instead, they operated on post-paid estimated billing, under which millions of naira were paid monthly without verifiable evidence of actual consumption,” the statement alleged.
Meters, the group claimed, were only hurriedly installed in September 2024, just two months before Obaseki left office.
Records cited by the organisation show that between January and November 2024 alone, the Obaseki government paid over ₦5 billion to Ossiomo. Monthly charges reportedly peaked at ₦673 million in September, ₦718 million in October, and ₦474 million in November, all shortly after his party lost the gubernatorial election.
Tariffs during this period were described as “wildly inconsistent,” ranging from ₦99.97/kWh to ₦236.78/kWh, in contrast to BEDC’s more predictable charges, which remained ₦68/kWh until April 2024 before rising to ₦225/kWh.
In contrast, the group credited the current administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo with introducing transparency through the installation of prepaid meters across government facilities.
“Today, government facilities pay Ossiomo an average of ₦199 million for every 45-day cycle, a drastic reduction from as high as ₦700 million monthly outflows under Obaseki,” the statement noted.
According to the figures released, Okpebholo’s government has spent just ₦1.55 billion on electricity in nine months (December 2024 to August 2025) – ₦1.2 billion to Ossiomo and ₦345 million to BEDC – compared to over ₦5 billion paid by the Obaseki administration within just 11 months of 2024.
The Edo Leaders of Thought posed several questions to the former governor, including why his administration refused to meter government establishments for years, why Edo was tied to Ossiomo in an opaque billing regime, and what personal interest may have driven the extraordinary patronage of the private company.
“If, as Mr. Obaseki consistently claimed, his administration invested heavily in Ossiomo, why then were his government’s electricity bills 75% higher than what Governor Okpebholo now pays for the same service?” the group queried.
“Edo people deserve full disclosure. Transparency is not optional; it is the cornerstone of democracy and good governance,” the statement concluded.
The group reaffirmed its commitment to monitoring developments in the power sector and urged citizens not to be distracted by “faceless documents and diversionary tactics.”
