The Cross River State government has restored power supply to two local council areas of Akpabuyo and Bakassi after 11 years of being disconnected from the national grid.

The Coordinator of Think Cross River Initiative, Darlington Edem, made the disclosure on Thursday during a media tour of projects executed by the current administration.

Mr Edem alleged that the residents were disconnected from the national grid over the years due to nonpayment of electricity bills.

According to him, the governor took the initiative after inauguration to enter an agreement with the Port-Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) that led to the restoration of power supply to the council areas.

He said, “Part of the agreement was the promise of regular and prompt settlement of bills, procurement of stolen and vandalised transformers as well as cables. Indeed, this was one of the campaign promises by Governor Bassey Otu to the people of Akpabuyo and Bakassi that he will restore power supply to the areas. Meanwhile, the people have commended the governor for ending their years of suffering and economy hardship due to the absence of power supply for 11 years.’’

The village head of Ikang community, Antigha Cobham 1, said that in addition to restoration of economic activities, security in the two council areas had also improved due to the restoration of electricity.

He added, “Before now, once it’s 5:00 p.m., nobody goes outside and comes into Bakassi. But this has changed, and we are indeed grateful to the governor. The governor is doing a lot, even beyond Bakassi.’’

The village head said that the only request the people of Bakassi demanded from the governor now was to see to the realisation of the Bakassi Deep Seaport.

He stated, “This issue of the Bakassi Deep Seaport project has been on for a long time, we want our sweet prince, Bassey Otu to see that this come to fruition this time. ”

A hotelier in Bakassi, Anthony Edem, described restoration of power supply to the area as a “restoration of our means of livelihood.”

According to Mr Edem, he spent an average of N300,000 weekly on diesel to run his hotel.

He stated, “This has impacted hugely on my business and other businesses since the problem started. We are happy that the issue of power supply has been corrected. We are grateful to the governor for restoring our source of livelihood.’’

(NAN)