Adewale Sanyaolu
Electricity consumers in the South-West geo-political zone yesterday in Lagos indicted the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over its failure to effectively monitor the power sector.
The consumers representing households and different communities expressed their frustrations to members of the House of Representatives’ Ad-hoc Committee on Electricity Customers Complaints with a call for the reversal of the power sector privatisation.
The consumers said the failure of NERC to address the mounting complaints of electricity consumers across the country has given most of the electricity distribution companies (Discos) the soft landing to treat customers with disdain.
They equally warned that if the Federal Government represented by NERC fails to sit up and resolve all customer complaints, a massive movement of angry and exploited consumers will have no choice than to resort to self help. A common feature of the complaints across consumers from the South-West geo-political zone remained the challenge of outrageous billing system, poor customer service and the inability of Discos to meter households.
In his submission to the Ad-hoc Committee, a troubled Chairman of Magodo GRA Phase 1, Gateway Zone Community Development Association (CDA), Mr. Bode Ojomu, said the group has written several letters to Ikeja Electric on the issue of excessive charges levied on residents of the estate via estimated billing and has pleaded with them that each house be metered to put the issue of estimated billing to rest.
“All our efforts have not yielded any respite as Ikeja Electric keeps piling us with excessive estimated billing, which has been increasing on a monthly basis.”
For their part, Olowogbowo CDA, represented by its Secretary, Mr. Bello Abdulwasiu, said the group has been inundated with series of complaints from residents over the incessant and astronomical increases in electricity billings by Eko Disco.
The CDA noted that it will no longer accept the outrageous billings that are only a product of irrational human estimates, alerting that the bill of every household in the community for the month of January 2018 shall be returned forthwith to Eko Disco not minding the consequences.