By Tony Okafor
To its credit, the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo has taken a significant step by establishing the Anambra State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ASERC) and finally asserting regulatory control over power supply in the state.
But the recent decision to grant an electricity distribution licence to First Power Electricity Distribution Company (FPEDC)—a subsidiary of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC)—has stirred understandable concern among Ndi Anambra.
Many are asking: if the parent company, EEDC, has for years struggled with poor supply, ageing transformers, overloaded feeders, and frequent equipment failures—problems that often compelled communities to fund their own repairs—what assurance exists that its “child,” FPEDC, will deliver anything better?
This “father-and-child” arrangement risks recycling the same failures Anambra has long endured.
For too long, EEDC’s brand has been synonymous with darkness, frustration, estimated billing, and unending complaints.
Unless FPEDC breaks decisively from this legacy and is compelled to invest in modern infrastructure, improve response times, and operate transparently—an outcome many residents doubt—Ndi Anambra may simply be getting a new label, not a new solution.
In neighbouring Imo State, Governor Hope Uzodimma has taken a more ambitious route, signing a Memorandum of Agreement with Orashi Electricity Company under the Light Up Imo project.
That initiative spans generation, transmission, and distribution across all 27 LGAs, with a clear mandate to rehabilitate, expand, and maintain power assets comprehensively.
It is a determined effort to dismantle the old order and build true energy sufficiency—the very kind of vision Anambra urgently needs.
Ndi Anambra deserve strict service benchmarks, transparent oversight, visible infrastructure upgrades, and genuine competition in power supply and distribution—not a recycled model hiding under a new name.
Anambra must choose courage over convenience. If the state truly seeks reliable electricity, stronger industries, and a modern economy, then FPEDC must not be allowed to inherit or replicate EEDC’s weaknesses.
Anything less will keep Ndi Anambra exactly where they have always been: waiting for light that never comes.
