By Vivian Okejeme
The Incorporated Trustee of Greater Mbaise Development Forum(GMDF), has asked the federal high court, Abuja, to order the completion of the abandoned Mbaise Transmission Power and Transmission Line Projects located at Ibeku in Aboh Mbaise LGA, Imo
The group prayed for an order of mandamus compelling the Minister of Power and Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Transmission Company of Nigeria and Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to facilitate the completion of the project.
The motion ex-perte was brought pursuant to order 34 Rule 3(1) and (2) of the federal high court (Civil Procedure Rule, 2019 Section 14(1) and (2) of the court .
In the suit instituted by the Counsel to the plaintiff, Malachy Nwaekpe, the Mbaise forum is seeking the relief of the court to established that the defendants have failed, refused and/or neglected to complete the abandoned Mbaise Transmission Power and Transmission Line Projects located at Ibeku in Aboh Mbaise LGA, Imo state even after served with a letter requesting them to complete the abandoned projects.
They also wants the court to determine that the Court has the inherent power to mandate the defendants to complete the abandoned Mbaise Transmission Power and Transmission Line Projects.
The plaintiff, in an affidavits in support of the ex-perte motion deposed to by Chief Alex Elewa, explained that GMDP is association whose objectives include doing everything within the law to ensure the development of Mbaise District in Imo State, adding that it’s membership cuts across Mbaise elites throughout the world with its head office at Mbaise, in Imo State.
The affidavit explained that sometime in 2009, the defendants commenced the construction of transmission line and transmission power projects in Ibeku in Imo State.
They submitted that while embarking on these projects, a vast area of farm land was taken from the indigenes under the guise that they were going to be given constant electricity within a short time.
However, the projects were later abandoned while the people, till date, cannot access their ancestral land.
According to them, owing to absence of transmission station in Mbaise, the entire district of Mbaise which comprises about 7 Local Government Areas have been denied adequate electricity supply while the other districts in Imo State enjoy electricity supply.
The charge sheet further stated that sometime in September, 2023, a petition was written against the Defendants at the National Assembly, precisely the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions over perennial blackout, extortion and total neglect of Mbaise District in Imo State.
Upon being served with the Petition, the second and third defendants admitted that the lack of electricity supply in Mbaise was due to absence of transmission station but that the project was ongoing.
No date and judge has been assigned to the matter.