Lagos Community Awaits Meter 10 Years After Payment

Some residents of Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos State have expressed anger over the non-issuance of electricity meters to them by the relevant power companies since application and payment 10 years ago.

Since paying N8,500 each to the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria in 2005, the residents have continued to await their meters or a refund of their money. At the time, the residents paid post-paid meters as the more sophisticated prepaid meters had not yet been introduced.

Following the privatisation of PHCN, the Iju-Ishaga area along with some other parts of Lagos, fell under Ikeja Electric (formerly Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company).

Residents said they were hoping to be the first set of electricity consumers to get the prepaid meters when they were newly introduced but were shocked that they were yet to get any meters yet, either post-paid or prepaid.

One of the affected residents, Mr. Ibrahim, who lives on Adesanya Street, Off Osun Osogbo Street, Iju-Ishaga, said residents have had to pay ridiculous light bills in the absence of post-paid or prepaid meters. He expressed surprise at having to wait for his meter for 10 years.

He said, “There are four flats in my compound and since I was the first tenant there, I applied first. Later, we applied for three more meters for the other flats but till today, no meter has been delivered to any of the flats. Whether post-paid or prepaid meters, the electricity company should give us one instead of keeping quiet about it as if our money is not with it. We still have receipts of the payments we made for the meters.”

Ibrahim told one of our correspondents that some accounts were generated for the flats in which the residents pay the estimated light bills for the house. But in spite of the estimated billing, Ibrahim faulted power supply in the area, which he described as “abysmal”.

He said, “Power is rationed here; the routine is ‘three days on and one day off’ which means that we should have power for three days and have blackout on the fourth day and then have power for another three days and another day of blackout.

“On the average, we are billed N4,800 monthly but still power supply is poor in this area. They say we are on three days on and one day off but the situation is far from that. On the days that we are meant to be on, we are only supplied power for five hours on the average.

“There was a time that we didn’t have power supply for a year because the transformer here was faulty. Still, we were brought light bills every month of that year. And each time the transformer was faulty, the electricity officials would insist we pay them before working on the problem.

“We are even asking for the old post-paid meters if we can’t get prepaid meters but they (officials of the electricity company) have refused to give us any.”

Ibrahim alleged that the non-issuance of electricity meters by the power company was intentional.

“We heard that the electricity companies deliberately hold on to the meters because they make more money through estimated billing of customers. With the post-paid meters, the company officials would have to follow the reading and with the prepaid ones, light bills depend on the amount of power used.”

Another resident, Mr. Oluwatoyin Adebajo, said he had been to various offices of IE to lodge complaints over the issue without any success.

He said, “I went to Ishaga Undertaking to complain and find out what was going on, but they directed to their Alausa office in Ikeja. At the office, someone collected a copy of the receipt from me and then I was sent back to Ishaga again.

“From Ishaga, I was directed to Ijaiye but nothing has come out of it till today. But I’ve not been to the this year so I don’t know what story I will hear there again.”

Also, Alhaji Bashiru Omisande, the landlord of House 14 on Ibrahim’s street, said he had stopped bothering himself about the meter four years ago.

“It’s unimaginable that people will pay for meters in 2005 and still continue to wait for the meters in 2015. I kept going to their office and the officials kept saying that they would give out the meters. But I kept going to their office four years ago even though I still have my receipt.,” he said.

In a related development, residents of New Oko-Oba and Akilo, both in Agege area of Lagos have described the estimated billing system employed by IE in their areas as fraudulent

The residents say that flats of two- and three-bedrooms get monthly light bills of about N10,000 each.

For instance, Alhaja Idiat Adewunmi, who lives on Olayiwola Street, New Oko-Oba, said residents have grown tired of the situation.

She said, “Each flat in the area gets up to N10,000 as light bill in a month. Even last month, my flat got over N10,000 as light bill and we don’t use heavy power-consuming gadgets like electric stoves and so on. We paid for prepaid meters long ago but up till now, we are yet to get them. Since there are no meters, all the IE officials do is put any amounts that suit their fancy on our bills.”

In a telephone conversation with one of our correspondents, the Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs Division, IE, Mr. Pekun Adeyanju, said all the customers who have paid for meters, even before the introduction of prepaid ones, would be considered when the company starts its planned installation of smart meters to its customers.

He, however, denied that the company was deliberately hoarding prepaid meters in order to make more money from its customers through estimated billing.

He said, “We will consider everyone who has paid for meters when we start installation of meters.

“How can people say that we are hoarding meters? Did they see the meters in our store? That’s is a wrong allegation.”

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.