Estimated Billings: 80,000 Ogun Residents Petition IKEDC Over Exploitation, Epileptic Services
By ABIODUN JIMOH, ABEOKUTA
Over 80,000 residents in two communities in Ogun State have written petition against the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) over alleged exploitative and ridiculous estimated billing by the company.
The communities namely Arepo and Isheri located along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Obafemi-Owode Local area of the stated that this outcry became necessary due to high level of exploitation and untold hardship being meted to them by the distribution company over the years.
In the petition dated June 28th, 2020, the Arepo Central Community Development Association (ACCDA) and Isheri Estates Community Residents Association of Lagos and Ogun (ISECOM) representing the residents of Arepo and Isheri/OPIC alleged that the electricity management has denied them opportunity of installing metres in their various homes.
The executives from these communities which included Kenny Adeyemo, Jide Oke, Abiola Abioye and Dr Afolabi Fasoranti representing over 80,000 residents in the petition jointly signed by them lamented that arge number of their houses were not metered due to nonchalant attitude of the electricity company.
The petition read: “In these communities are a lot of our members who up till now are not metered by management of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company in a relationship with such residents received payments based on a very exploitative and highly ridiculous estimated billing regime on a monthly basis despite epileptic service.
“Since the commencement of these legal relationships with the two communities of Arepo and Isheri/OPIC, it has been one breach, agony, disappointment, unpleasant and unpalatable experience after the other, despite the fact that these communities have not breached any of the conditions as provided for in the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act of 2005.”
Also, the residents noted that in the last one year, the two communities have been inundated, bombarded and harassed with several text messages from the IKEDC Customer Care Center that the Akute feeder which provides the communities with electricity, is always faulty with persistent pleas that such fault would be rectified immediately.
“Despite several letters from us and even meetings held with them, the last being in February this year, their management has unfortunately neglected or failed outrightly to rectify or overhaul this faulty feeder in Akute.
“The result of this breach is that, it takes days sometimes before faults are rectified, therefore putting all the people in these communities into perpetual darkness and untold, unwarranted and undeserved psychological trauma as a result of lack of electricity.
“This is apart from non-upgrading or replacement of obsolete transformers and other infrastructures in the communities which have been a source of regular concern.
“On account of this inadequacy by management of the company, the two communities have been put on perpetual one day on, one day off supply arrangement, but quite pathetically, Ikeja Electricity has failed woefully to even meet up with this arrangement.
“On the specific day of supply to any of the communities, the customary excuse of Akute feeder trip-off is used as justification for breach. It is worse that at the slightest hint or drop of rainfall, what otherwise should be a blessing, automatically becomes a curse by the handlers Ikeja electricity. Its light off immediately, no thanks to Akute feeder!’, the communities lamented
Furthermore, they acknowledged that the use of Akute feeder as an alibi was not only frustrating and ludicrous; it was seen as a ploy to coerce the two communities into joining their willing buyer-willing seller scheme, thereby imposing exploitative, outlandish electricity tariffs on the two communities against their wish.
They wrote: ‘For communities where almost half of the population are without meters, which are not readily made available, the management of IKEDC in the most unconscionable manner provides
