of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Imo, Kingsley Uju, decried the increasing rate of vandalism of PHCN equipment in most communities in the state.
Uju, who is currently the Deputy Chief of Staff to Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, is the sole House of Representatives aspirant of the APC for the Ohaji Egbema, Oguta and Oru West Federal Constituency.
The aspirant’s reaction is coming on the heels of agitations and appeals by some communities in the constituency that have been in darkness for over a year due to the vandalism of their transformers and powerline cables.
The aspirant told Newsmen in Lagos that the state and even individuals had spent so much over the years trying to replace stolen and vandalised equipment in communities across the state.
“I have personally made donations of transformers to most of the communities in my constituency more than once. This is in addition to replacing stolen cables across the communities.
“The state has also expended funds meant for other infrastructure just to ensure that communities are not left in darkness.
“But we cannot continue to fold our hands and watch a few individuals continue to throw entire communities in darkness.
“I have procured new transformers for most of the communities and they are currently being installed,” he said.
As stated by him, the cost of replacing vandalised materials is unbearable as it runs into several millions of Naira.
Uju stated that the socio-economic effect of vandalism was negative because it results in throwing the communities into darkness.