Alltimepost.com Sincerity of Purpose
By Idahosa Musa
Five years after breaking the monopoly of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) in the state and supported the construction of Ossiomo Power, an electricity generation and distribution firm, Edo State Government has reconnected with the Benin BEDC for supply of electricity.
It was learnt that the State Government’s switch over to BEDC was due to the shutdown of Ossiomo Power since September 1, 2025, over ownership tussle between Ossiomo Power and its Chinese partners, Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology (CCETC).
Ossiomo Power generates 95MW of electricity which it supplied to government buildings, Edo government house, Edo NUJ secretariat, private organizations, streetlights amongst others.
Director General of the Edo State Electrification Agency, Saturday Omozokpea Egbadon, who confirmed the switch over to the BEDC, said electricity has been restored to some streetlights and government buildings.
Egbadon said the process was still ongoing.
Recently the power tussle within the organization came into public domain, when Ossiomo Power, a leading indigenous electricity company, reaffirmed its exclusive ownership of the gas and power infrastructure situated in Ologbo, Edo State of Nigeria.
The Deputy General Manager of Ossiomo Power, Engr. Francis Ekwe, stated this in Benin, emphasizing that the company holds valid statutory rights to generate and transmit electricity within Edo State.
According to him, these rights have been in place since 2008 and are backed by licenses and approvals from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and other relevant regulatory authorities.
Engr. Ekwe further clarified that a 2018 agreement between Ossiomo Power and the Chinese company CCETC was strictly limited to the supply and installation of power generation engines and in no way conferred ownership or operational rights on CCETC over any part of the infrastructure.
The clarification came in response to recent insinuations suggesting that CCETC may be positioning itself to claim ownership of the project infrastructure.
Engr. Francis warned that such claims could be aimed at influencing state-level energy decisions in a manner that threatens Nigeria’s local content policy and the continued participation of indigenous firms in the power sector.
