The Nation Newspaper

Tag: EKEDC

  • FESTAC RESIDENTS: EKEDC Refuses to give us prepaid meter

  • Mushin communities to EKEDC: give us prepaid meters

    Some communities in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State yesterday urged Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) to honour the agreement reached with the company last July.

    Their demand followed the House of Representatives’ passage of Electricity Power Reform Act (Amendment) Bill 2018, prohibiting and criminalising estimated billing.

    The lawmakers proposed one-year jail term and a fine of N1million for defaulting DisCo.

    Under the proposed law, electricity distribution companies are to give prepaid meters to applicants within 30 days. It has to go to the Senate for concurrence before being sent to the President for assent.

    If signed, the law will bar a Disco from disconnecting a consumer after the 30-day period within which a meter should be installed.

    Residents of Igbehin-Adun, Ilasamaja, Papa-Ajao, Oduduwa, Ladipo, Megbon, among others yesterday protested the re-introduction of estimated billings.

    They marched on the streets carrying placards to sensitise others.

    The residents said they are ready to go for months without electricity supply from EKEDC to press home their demands.

    They said EKEDC has reduced the hours of electricity to three hours a day.

    “Despite having lesser hours of electricity, EKEDC has started disconnecting our supply for not paying the outrageous bills. This is contrary to our agreement last July,” Imam Maruf Okusanya told The Nation.

    “We do not want estimated billings again. They brought bills of N15,000, N20,000 among others, whereas those who use prepaid meters spend less than N4,000 monthly and we are using the same electricity. It is unacceptable. EKEDC continues to promise prepaid meters without fulfilling its promise. That’s why we said we will be paying N4,000 monthly until they supply the meters,” he added.

    The General Secretary of Igbehin Community Development Association, Mr Kayode Ogunbola, described the estimated billing as unacceptable to the community.

    He said: “Many of our members are saying that what they are paying for electricity is more than house rent. This is our concern. We want to live as normal human beings and not as second-class citizens. What we want is prepaid meter. Ikeja Electric has been doing well to meter its customers. What stops EKEDC from doing same? Instead, they are using police to harass our members. We urge the state and federal governments to call EKEDC to order.”

    Lekan Bolaji from Ofada Street said some of the residents, who have paid for the prepaid meters, have not received them since 2016.

    “Despite that the government said it’s free, some of our people paid for the meters since.  For almost two years, EKEDC has not installed the meters. We have what the DisCo called Statistical Meter that will be mounted on the transformer for the residents to know the accurate amount of electricity consumed and the bill will be shared among the houses using the transformer. We asked for it pending the time prepaid meters will be provided. EKEDC has not supplied it. Even the analogue meter was being read by the defunct National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA) officials, before bringing the bills,” Bolaji said.

    He urged the government to prevail on EKEDC to stop cheating its customers.

    Salman Uthman from Itire Road said the community has promised the EKEDC officials to help nab those who bypass the meters and those on free rider (those who use electricity without collecting bills).

    “Our stand is N4,000 monthly pending the time they will bring prepaid or statistical meters,” he said.

  • EKEDC, Mushin residents resolve bill dispute

    The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) and some customers in Ilasamaja, Mushin, Lagos, have resolved their dispute over bills.

    The District Manager, Mr Chuck Dim, promised to address the customers’ complaints over what they called outrageous bills.

    The parties agreed that each house must pay 60 percent of its debt to address the power challenge of Igbehin Community Development Association (CDA) in Ilasamaja.

    Two members of the community, Mrs Zainab Taiwo and Princess Bola Oyeniyi, yesterday said it was agreed that EKEDC should weigh power usage within the community to determine whether it reflects what the residents were charged.

    EKEDC’s and the community’s lawyers are to document the agreement, including the new monthly payment plan.

    Some residents are, however, kicking against the proposed Load Inventory System.

    “We do not want Load Inventory System; it has been over a month we last had light and no agreement will be signed if our community is not supplied with electricity. The 60 percent of outstanding bills as required by the EKEDC will be paid if our light is restored, but we won’t be paying 10 percent of any accumulated bills,” one of them said.

    “We are looking forward to having electricity today as promised by EKEDC management. They claimed that our light had fault but we made them realise that it is not so,” she said.

    The CDA General Secretary, Kayode Ogunbola, denied the EKEDC’s allegation that its workers were harassed in the community.

    He said: “We have always tried to maintain peace, even today (yesterday), their workers came to distribute bills and we never harassed them. We carried out a sensitisation programme in the community to teach our youths not to harass EKEDC officials whenever they come, which is one of our responsibilities. What we want is prepaid meter. The Federal Government has ordered all power companies to make prepaid meter available to their customers which they did not do for our community. We have met with them several times and have written a lot of letters but all they said is that the prepaid meters are not available. We asked them when it would be available but they said they don’t know, which means they want us to continue paying estimated bills which are usually more than N30,000 monthly. If we calculate the money it is even more than the house rent of some people.”

    The Community’s Chairman, Alhaji Oladele Dasaolu, said residents were not ready to continue paying the bills.

    “We are the consumers and they are the seller, we have to reach an agreement that will benefit both of us. We were taken to the police station and the EKEDC officials accused me of gathering boys to beat them up and stopping them from doing their work, which is not true. We are responsible people and have conducted sensitisation to educate members of the community not to engage in any fight with the EKEDC officials,” he said.

  • Eko Disco compensates staff beaten in line of duty

    The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) says it has handed N1.7 million to its staff, Mr Abayomi Ololade, who sustained injury after a violent attack on him by consumers in Ajele area of Lagos Island.

    Mr Godwin Idemudia, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, EKEDC said this on Tuesday in Lagos.

    Idemudia said Ololade was thrown off a ladder and beaten to pulp while disconnecting some consumers in the area.

    According to him, the attack led to Ololade being hospitalised for months.

    He said the cheque was presented to the victim by the firm’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Mr Aik Alenkhe, at the EKEDC Headquarters in Lagos.

    He said the monetary compensation was beside the medical expenses, which were borne by the company.

    Idemudia warned that the company would not hesitate to enforce its right to bring perpetrators of the act to book.

    Idemudia said nobody had the right to unleash terror or violence on another person on account of protesting against unsatisfactory service from a corporate organisation.

    Alenkhe also said the compensation was an attestation to the company’s readiness to stand by its staff in any challenge they encounter in the course of their official duties.

    According to Alenkhe, EKEDC regards its workers as its greatest asset and will therefore do all that is possible within the law to protect their interest.

    He said the monetary compensation came through the company’s subscription to the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and a group accident insurance policy as a welfare scheme for the company’s staff.

    Alenkhe said the compensation was in line with the provision of the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Cap 470 of 1990 edition of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    He expressed the hope that the compensation policy would serve as a good source of motivation to the staff.
    Responding, Ololade thanked the management of Eko Disco for the gesture, saying that the compensation was an indication of the care and concern the company had for its workers.
    He advised the management of the company to intensify the ongoing campaign against acts of vandalism and violent attack on the company’s facilities and staff in the zone.

  • Protesters march on EKEDC

    The Association of Shop Owners at the Sura Shopping Complex, Lagos Island yesterday  led a peaceful protest to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc (EKEDC) on the Marina, to demand freedom to patronise alternative power supply firms.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that protesters, who came out in black attire, carried placards with various inscriptions, chanting songs to register their grievances.

    They rejected appeals for a closed door meeting between their representatives and the EKEDC management.

    EKEDC Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Adeoye Fadeyibi, later came out to address the protesters.

    Chairman of the association, Mrs Bunmi Ajayi, said that they had perfected plans to purchase electricity from a private firm and wanted EKEDC to give the shop owners the approval for them to patronise an Independent Power Producer (IPP).

    “Why we are here is that we are not getting any reasonable service from the EKEDC and we have, therefore, resolved away from you.

    “We are here to give you a letter. It is not about disconnection, but we wrote this letter to say that we want to upgrade our panels and that you should disconnect us.

    “Please do not go ahead to say they should reconnect us because we are working on our panels. We all have new panels now.

    “We have this letter for you because we are not happy with your services and we should be free to choose any power distribution company of our choice.

    “We are dissatisfied with your services and we don’t want your services anymore,’’ she said.

    Responding, Fadeyibi said he appreciated the association’s position but noted that there was need to follow the right approach to having an IPP.

    He said EKEDC was regulated and guided by law and was trying as much as possible to solve the problems of power generation and distribution.

    “There is no intent to cause you any undue stress. Do not let anybody tell you that you cannot work within the regulator. We all work within the rules and regulations of the regulator, if there is no regulated environment, there will be chaos.

    “There is a deemed network that has been assigned, within that network, we have investments made,’’ he said.

    Fadeyibi explained that the power from the national grid operated within a system that required synergy to work effectively.

    He appealed to the association to seek information so as to make the right choices.

    The EKEDC chief promised to study their letter and revert to them as soon as possible.

  • EKEDC donates 500 rain jackets to LAWMA

    Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc (EKEDC) on Monday donated 500 rain jackets to the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) in ensuring proper waste management across the state.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Adeoye Fadeyibi, said the donation was a little way of contributing to the environment where EKEDC do business.

    Fadeyibi, who was represented by the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Aik Alenkhe, said the company would continue to support LAWMA’s initiatives geared towards ensuring cleanliness of Lagos.

    “We are not just doing this because we are in business but to impacts on the environment where we do business. The essence is to enhance our society in ensuring that we make more positive impacts in the environment where we do business,” he said.

    The EKEDC boss said the company is also working towards extending its CSR initiatives programmes to other corporate organisations in the State, like Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA).

    “As I speak today, we are also planning similar initiative with LASTMA; you can see that there is a huge gap, whenever there is heavy down pour, LASMA personnel working on the highway often hid for rain.

    “This is one of the thing we are also working on how we can we also support  the agency’s personnel   for effective control of traffic during the raining season, which is part of the company’s CSR initiatives,’’ Fadeyibi added.

    LAWMA General Manager Segun Adeniji said the gesture means the EKEDC cares and it also an expression of their CSR to support the state in keeping it clean and improve the welfare of our workers.

  • EKEDC to prosecute ex-Army chief for ‘threatening official with gun’

    A retired army general, who allegedly pulled a gun and threatened to shoot some staff of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), will be prosecuted for assault and attempted murder.

    The company’s spokesman, Godwin Idemudia, told reporters in Lagos yesterday that the retired general, on May 24, allegedly forced EKEDC employees to reconnect electricity supply to his Ikoyi, Lagos residence at gunpoint.

    Idemudia said EKEDC officials had disconnected power supply to the general.

    He said the incident attracted a large crowd from the neighbourhood when the ex-soldier shot into the air.

    Narrating the incident, Idemudia said the company’s disconnection crew had served security guards at the general’s house in Ikoyi, with disconnection order when they could not produce proof of payment.

    He said power supply to the house was subsequently disconnected.

    According to him, the disconnection crew was still within the neighbourhood when the general double-crossed the crew van and brought out a loaded pistol and shot into the air.

    “The crew members were thus forced to reconnect the general’s house since he was threatening that he would shoot the leader of the team if his house was not reconnected immediately.

    “The general’s action was most unfortunate, especially coming from someone that was supposed to be a highly respected citizen,” he said.

  • EKEDC: the rich also steal?

    The popular Mexican TV soap was The Rich Also Cry.

    But from complaints, from the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), alleging meter bypass, bordering on electricity theft, at the tony Victoria Garden City (VCG), perhaps the first luxury residential estate on the Lagos Lekki axis, you won’t be wrong if you expect a Nigerian follow-up to the Mexican soap: The Rich Also Steal!

    According to a report in the Vanguard of May 21, EKEDC alleged it had discovered bypassed meters at VGC, which suggests some residents may have been pilfering electricity without paying for it!  Holy Moses!   Could the rich also steal?

    But before you jump to any conclusion, perhaps you should pause to do the real demographics of those allegedly involved.  Are they the real rich, which James Hadley Chase in his thrillers loved to call “the rich and the spoilt”?  And even if they are spoilt, could they be spoilt to the extent of stealing electricity, despite their clout, despite their reach, despite their wealth?

    Or it is only the minnows, the rich wannabes who also struggle to put up some appearance among the rich and the mighty, with an eye on the next kill, to actualize their nouveau rich status?

    Or is it the biblical hewers of stone or fetchers of wood, who serve their wealthy and near-Royal majesties, that play a fast one on EKEDC and neatly filch power it buys from  the transmission company and pre-pays at a premium, to enjoy at their wanton pleasure?  Unbelievable!

    But whoever is responsible, could it be good, old Karma at work — or what do you call when a scammer is himself scammed?

    Of course, you won’t dare suggest EKEDC is a scamming corporate citizen.  Neither would you say that of its tag-team mate, Ikeja Electric (I.E.), both the duopoly that straddle the Lagos electricity market and its environment.

    But don’t be too sure their customers, grumbling, dissatisfied and infuriated, won’t call both just that — corporate scammers.  All over the vast market, teeming with no less than an estimated 20 million people, there are daily cries of “crazy bills”, from the unmetered segment of the market.

    But the more the customers scream and bawl, the more arrogantly EKEDC and I.E. barge in, on the neighbourhood, with their disconnection gangs ever eager and ready, always with manic pleasure, to disconnect its customers at the virtual drop of a hat.

    What is more?  While these DISCOs have done little to up the ante in terms of service delivery, they have scaled up their revenue push, so much so that the creed appears payment first, service never!  Now, how do you survive doing business in such a market?

    So, maybe those who steal EKEDC’s electricity are returning the full compliment, stealing back the revenue the DISCOs are “stealing” — or what do you call forceful payment of bills without service — from their helpless and browbeaten market?

    Indeed, the rich — or their proxies — also steal!  No tears for EKEDC?  Hardball didn’t say so!

     

     

     

  • Lagos community decries poor electricity

    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

     

     

  • ‘Our husbands abandon us over six yrs power outage’

    Hundreds of women from Alaba-Oro, Mosafejo and Amukoko area of Lagos on Thursday stormed the Marina headquarters of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), protesting over six years epileptic power supply.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the all-women protesters prevented workers and visitors from entering EKEDC premises and caused traffic gridlock on the ever-busy Lagos Marina.

    The placard-carrying women, who chanted solidarity songs, said their husbands have abandoned their respective homes due to the epileptic power supply in the areas.

    “Women in the communities decided to come to Marina today because our men are no longer staying at home due to power outage.

    “Most of our husbands now stay late nights outside because they know there won’t be electricity at home,’’ said Mrs Oluwatoyin Osunlowo, spokesperson of the women protesters.

    Osunlowo said that the communities had been experiencing epileptic power supply since 2013.

    “For the past six years, we do not sleep with power supply in the communities.

    “If they will bring electricity at all, they used to give us in the afternoons between 1p.m and 2p.m and that is all.

    “Then at the end of the month, they will give us outrageous bills without enjoying the supply,’’ she said.

    Another protester, Mrs Mojisola Olaosebikan, said she had closed her frozen food shop at Mosafejo Market due to the epileptic supply.

    “Our business involves power supply but due to the irregular supply, some of us who sell frozen foods are running at a loss, now we are out of business.

    “We are appealing to the officials of Eko Disco to come to our aid and give us power supply in our community,’’ she said.

    Addressing the women, EKEDC Chief Executive, Adeoye Fadeyibi, urged the protesters to be patient with the company.

    Fadeyibi advised the protesters to submit a formal complaint letter and assured that the company would treat their grievances as a matter of urgency.

    He promised that the company would do everything possible to ensure regular power supply to the areas and advised the protesters to also ensure regular payment of electricity bills.