Residents of Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State have expressed deep frustration and concern over the prolonged power outage which has crippled economic activities in the area.
The complaint is contained in a letter dated 13 June 2025, addressed to the Regional Manager, Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), Katsina South Region, a copy of which was made available to PUNCH Online on Monday.
According to the letter which was signed by Chairman, Board of Trustees for Malumfashi Foundation, Yakubu Jibrin, lamented that the persistent power outage has crippled socio-economic activities of the people of the area.
The letter with reference No: MF/EXT/GEN/VOL.1/NO.12 titled, ‘Strong Complaint On Prolonged Power Outage In Malumfashi Town’ was also copied to the Chairman, Malumfashi Local Government, Galadiman Katsina, District Head of Malumfashi and the Divisional Police Officer, Malumfashi Division.
‘We write to formally express our deep frustration and concern over the ongoing blackout that has crippled Malumfashi town for the past 14 days. It is our understanding that the cause of the outage was the collapse of electric poles along the Funtua–Malumfashi line.
‘While the incident may be beyond control, your company’s delay in addressing the problem and lack of communication with residents is completely unacceptable.
‘This prolonged outage has severely affected businesses, hospitals and everyday life in Malumfashi. It reflects poorly on the commitment of KEDCO to serve the public efficiently and responsibly’, it said.
The letter said, ‘As a civil society group dedicated to protecting the rights of Malumfashi residents, Malumfashi Foundation hereby demands the following actions from KEDCO without delay: Immediate repair and full restoration of the power supply to Malumfashi within three days from the date of this letter.
‘In addition, they demanded a formal apology to the people of Malumfashi for the hardship caused by the blackout and exemption of the blackout period from all electricity bills for affected customers’.
Similarly, the group demanded the deployment of security guards to safeguard transformers during the ongoing repairs and assumed full financial responsibility for all repair works related to this outage; no community contribution or billing of customers shall be accepted.
‘We also demand fulfilment of your public commitment made during the recent Town Hall Meeting to distribute prepaid meters to Malumfashi residents without delay.
‘We hope KEDCO will act swiftly to restore public trust and fulfill its obligations to the people of Malumfashi’, the group added.
Efforts to contact KEDCO’s Head of Corporate Communications Unit, Sani Bala Sani, proved abortive as he did not respond to phone calls from our reporter.
Similarly, a text message sent to him was also not replied to as of the time of filing this report.
