By Kelvin Obambon
A long-simmering tension between residents of Calabar Municipal and the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) met an opportunity for resolution on Tuesday December 9, 2025, as Hon. Stanley Nsemo, member representing the Municipality in the Cross River State House of Assembly, successfully convened a crucial town hall engagement.
The gathering, held in the Assembly complex, brought together frustrated constituents, community leaders, and key PHED officials for a direct, face-to-face dialogue aimed at tackling persistent electricity issues, primarily focusing on irregular billing, faulty transformers, and customer service failures.
Addressing the gathering, Hon. Nsemo revealed that the decision to hold the forum was necessitated by an overwhelming influx of complaints reaching his office.
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“We thought it necessary for this town hall meeting to be held because various communities across the length and breadth of Calabar Municipality have been coming to me with various complaints about billing, customer care, and just a few other issues that they have,” he stated.
“I have a good working relationship with the PHED, having been former DG State Electrification Agency (SEA), so I know each and every one of them one-on-one,” Hon. Nsem said, as he positioned himself as the bridge between the service provider and the consumers.
He explained that his ultimate goal was to foster mutual understanding. “I thought it would be a better idea to have them speak to you, and you speak to them one-on-one, so that the issues that you are facing, they can understand, and also you can understand where they are coming from.”
Acknowledging the complexity of the problems, Hon. Nsemo assured constituents that the Assembly would not abandon unresolved issues. “We might not be able to resolve all the issues that we find here, but we will try our best to address them.”
He immediately outlined a structured follow-up plan, urging residents with issues too complex for immediate resolution to liaise with his office for continued engagement with the electricity provider.
“If we cannot resolve your issue here, we have a form that we have created,” he announced. “We will transmit those forms back to them, and then we will follow up with the customer care head, and see that those things are taken care of.”
The meeting concluded on a hopeful note, with the lawmaker emphasizing that the primary objective was “to listen to each other and solve our problems by listening and mediating,” with a promise that the Cross River State House of Assembly would continue to monitor the progress of all outstanding cases.
