More business clusters in Ariaria International Market, Aba, Abia State, will soon start enjoying constant power supply, as the Ariaria Market Energy Solutions Limited (AMES), an independent power plant, dedicated to the market, has announced its readiness to connect them to its grid.
However, the Aba shoe cluster, which is situated close to Ariaria International Market and desires constant power more in that business corridor, will not be part of the new patrons to benefit from the services of AMES, as they are not members of Ariaria International Market Traders Association (AIMATA).
This clarification came in the heels of allegations that AMES, which had promised to keep to its contractual terms, was distributing power to residential areas around the market
Ubani Nkaginieme, managing director, Ariaria Market Energy Solutions Ltd, (AMES), who disclosed this in a telephone interview, explainedt hat the prospective customers have to sign up through the Ariaria International Market Traders Association (AIMATA) to get the company’s service.
“The Ariaria shoe cluster is not part of Ariaria International Market Traders Association (AIMATA) and we are also not supplying any residential area as some alleged.
“We are just focused on the market now, but we have told the shoe cluster what they need to do, which is not what I want to repeat here.
“We are ready to work with them, but they too have to be ready to work with us. There are things they need to do to be able to connect to our grid.
You have to follow due process”, he stated.
He also stated that his company is cautious with connections in and around the market, in order not to breach their contractual agreement with the Federal Government.
He pointed out that the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) took his company to court, accusing it of a breach which never was true.
“We want to follow due process to avoid problems. You might have heard that Enugu DisCo took our company to court.
“If we have not been doing things properly, we would be in trouble with them by now.
“But now they are begging to withdraw the case, but we said no because we were on our own when they took us to court.
“We said let the judgement be delivered and they know if that judgment is delivered it will expose them badly.
“Now that the other DisCos are quarreling with them, what they have been hiding will be made open.
“If we had rushed to do certain things, we would have been in trouble and that is why we appear to be slow, but we are going to accelerate things soonest”, he stated.
Nkaginieme, who is also the president, Total Support Energy Group, a generating company, owners of AMES, explained that their Aba power plant had linked Shell pipeline gas supply, which had increased its efficiency.
He noted that bringing gas with trucks from Port Harcourt affected their operations, stressing that the Shell pipeline gas supply had made their operations more dependable.
