Electricity consumers in Cardoso Awodi-Ora area of Ajegunle Apapa in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area, Lagos, on Friday decried the epileptic power supply, outrageous billing and dilapidated equipment in their community.
They told our reporter in Lagos that the outrageous monthly bills received from Eko Electricity Distribution Company did not correspond with the supply given to the community.
Mr Joseph Emmanuel, a resident of the area said that electricity consumers in the community were given crazy bills despite having poor electricity supply.
“How can EKEDC be bringing between N27,000 and N30,000 to a three-bedroom flat in a month when the supply is just about six hours daily?
“The supply is between 10:30 in the morning to 1:pm, then 11p.m to 3a.m daily, and at the end of the month one will be given outrageous bills.
“If I am using prepaid meter, I cannot finish N5,000 recharge in a month.
“We are being forced to pay for electricity we never consumed; this is extortion, we demand for transparency in the billing methodology,” he said.
Mr Babalola James, a landlord in the area, said all the electric poles, cables and other electricity facilities situated along Ojo Road that supplied the community were due for replacement.
“Virtually all the transformers are dilapidated and can no longer continue to cope with the load on them.
“From our feasibility study, more than 89 houses use one transformer, which is grossly inadequate,” he said.
Mrs Funmilayo Adeoye, another resident of the community, urged EKEDC management to install prepaid meters in all houses in the area.
Responding, Mr Godwin Idemudia, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, EKEDC, said the company did not bill its customers arbitrarily.
“We bill according to the energy delivered. It is surprising to hear some of our customers complain about supply brought for few hours on daily basis for for few days.
“The truth is that the level of consumption for the few hours that supply is available mean a lot of energy could have been consumed within those hours.
“Due to lack of trust from some of our customers not knowing when supply would come again, they carry out a lot of activities within a short period.
“They use iron, pumping machine and electric stove all at the same time, so one cannot use availability of supply to determine their bills,” he said.
Idemudia urged electricity consumers in the area to report cases of dilapidated equipment at EKEDC customer care offices nearest to them.
NAN
