The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Felix Ofulue

  • Electricity employees picket Ikeja Electric offices

    Members of the National Union of Electricity Employees on Wednesday barricaded Ikeja Electric’s (IE) offices across Lagos including the headquarters in Alausa.

    The picketing, which stated before 8am and continued till about 5pm was said to have been as a result of the retrenchment of  about 40 workers by the electricity distribution company (Disco).

    It was gathered IE recently conducted job performance appraisal in which some workers were promoted while those considered to have under performed, relieved.

    Angered by the sack, the union mobilized placard carrying members, who resisted customers and workers access to the company’s offices.

    Read Also: Electricity distributors fight back (I)

    It was gathered that it took the intervention of security agencies for IE workers to be allowed into the premises.

    Reacting to the picketing, IE said it had to shut down nine feeders serving about three thousand customers within Ikeja for safety concerns.

    It described the protest was self-serving, noting that about 300 workers were promoted last week across all cadre.

    The company said over 500 workers was recruited in one year, adding that the recent separation of staff was due to varying actions not in furtherance of overall company objectives.

    Head, Corporate Communications Felix Ofulue said: “When NUEE chooses to cripple socio-economic activities of over a million households, for issues that can be resolved through dialogue, one then wonders if the motives are as selfless as they claim.

    “How do you plunge a country’s commercial nerve center into darkness because of a few of your members who have been separated from the business for cogent reasons? It is really appalling. It’s an abuse of privilege to picket.

    “Imagine that our employees in Alausa Injection Sub Station were chased out of the facility by the union and they had to shut down nine feeders that supply power to Ikeja and its environs on safety grounds. This has resulted in an immediate blackout for at least 3000 customers.”

    Ofulue apologized to customers for the disruption of service, assuring that the company would continue to partner stakeholders for improved service delivery.

     

  • Electricity: Lagos community kicks over mass disconnection

    Some electricity consumers in Baruwa community in Ipaja, Lagos, on Thursday faulted the disconnection of their power supply from the transformer by officials of Ikeja Electric.
    Our reporter in separate interviews in Lagos that disconnecting the entire community from the grid, due to few consumers owing the company, was illegal.
    Mr Kazeem Ibrahim, a resident of Olofintuyi Street, told our reporterthat on April 20, two of the three cables that supply power to their houses were dropped from the transformer.
    “We reported this at the nearby office of Ikeja Electric in order to fix the problem because we were in darkness.
    “But surprisingly, when they came four days later, instead of repairing the faulty transformer, they removed the entire cables that supply the area and shut us down.
    “The company’s workers claimed that some consumers were owing the electricity firm, and if they refuse to pay their due, they will not restore the power supply.
    “It is injustice; I pay my electricity bills regularly. This is not the way to do it.
    “The company knows who pays and who does not pay his bill; they should go after them and not put the entire community in darkness”he said.

    Read Also: Workers hail Akeredolu on reforms in Ondo Electricity Board

    Mr Joseph Philip, another resident of Baruwa, said the seven-day outage had started taking its toll on the community, noting that economic activities in the entire area had been grounded.
    “We are law abiding citizens of Nigeria, but Ikeja Electric is not treating us well.
    “In 2017, our transformer at two-storey area developed fault for nine months.
    “We were in darkness throughout those months, yet Ikeja Electric was bringing electricity bills without power supply.
    “I have written them that I’m not paying for the energy, because there was no reason for the bills they were bringing without supply,” he said.
    The Head, Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Mr Felix Ofulue, said they would look into the matter and resolve all issues relating to power  supply in the community.

    Ofulue urged the residents not to vandalise the company’s equipment in their area due to the outage.

     

  • Electricity consumers decry power outage in Lagos suburb

    Residents around Cement Bus Stop in the Ikeja Local Council Development Area of Lagos State have expressed dissatisfaction with Ikeja Electric ( IE ) over electricity outage in  their community since 2016.

    Chief Toyin Oko-Osi, Baale of the Community, who spoke with our correspondent in Lagos on Friday, said that the community had suffered power outage for a full year.

    “We have been in darkness for a full year from February 2016 to January 2017.

    “It took the efforts of leaders of the community to source for another transformer.

    “Shortly afterwards, IE started giving us outrageous estimated bills in the community,” he recalled.

    Mr Bunmi Olajide, an elder statesman of the community bitterly lamented the outrageous bills that followed restoration of power, saying that they were at variance with the volume of power supplied to the community.

    “Estimated bills ranging from N10, 000 to N30, 000 were being distributed per flat by IE, without the meters being read.

    “We met with the District Manager, Lanre Yusuf, armed with some copies of the bills and he promised to do something about it, but as we speak, nothing has been done.

    “In fairness to them, from Jan. 2018, power supply rose when cumulatively calculated to ten days, as against the five that was obtained initially,” he said.

    Barrister Abdulazeez Adeleke, a youth leader, said that the transformer did not last for long as a result of the carelessness of an employee of IE.

    “We know that every transformer has its load capacity.

    “However, one Engineer Victor came and began to add some extra street loads to the transformer.

    “Immediately we noticed the development, we called his attention to it and he said that he was to be held responsible should anything happen to the transformer.

    “As a result of this, few weeks later, we heard an explosion at midnight from the transformer and our ordeal began afresh.

    “We immediately wrote to IE intimating them of the development; reporting the self-acclaimed Engineer but to our surprise, we were told he was not an engineer.

    “The mini power station at Asade, a nearby community, from where we generate power, had issues which led to us sharing power.

    “An act which led to a power supply sharing ordeal of one day on, two days off,’’ he recalled.

    Mr Rufai Adewale, another youth leader, said that some residents of the community had made payments for prepaid meters with receipts of payments but had yet to be supplied.

    “Payments have been made for prepaid meters but as we speak, not a single meter has been issued out, so I wonder where the so called estimated figures are gotten from,’’ he said.

    Adewale added that several efforts had been made to resolve these issues but proved abortive.

    “We wrote to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and a panel was set up with a hearing date between our community and Ikeja Electric fixed for Jan. 24, 2018.

    “The verdict of the NERC was that those with working meters paid 100 per cent of whatever estimated bill was brought to them and those without meters were asked to pay 60 per cent of the estimated bills.

    “After the hearing, we urged residents to comply with the payments and they did,’’ he said.

    However, the next set of bills threw everyone off balance as we were faced with such obnoxious figures.

    “A flat was asked to pay N20, 000 and some others N30, 000.

    “A house with four flats would then pay between N80, 000 and N120, 000 based on the estimated bills.

    “How is that even possible in a residential area and not an industrial area?

    “We believe that the bills brought to us are outrageous and purposeful and we suspect we are being made to pay for the one year period we had no power supply to the area,’’ he said.

    Adewale called for a round table session where these issues could be ironed out and modalities for payment discussed.

    “We want an improvement in the supply of electricity as businesses, especially those that deal with the sales of soft drinks, water and frozen foods run at very minimal profits.

    “We call on the government to help us out. We would appreciate every effort the Lagos State Government can employ to ensure that this issue becomes a thing of the past,’’ he said.

    Mr Felix Ofulue, Head, Corporate Communications of IE, did not respond to several calls and messages to his telephone line.

    NAN

  • TCN explains power outage in some Lagos communities

    TCN explains power outage in some Lagos communities

    The management of Transmission Company of Nigeria ( TCN ) on Wednesday, attributed the in adequate power supply in some communities in Lagos to upgrading of its transformers at Ejigbo and Alimosho transmission sub-stations.

    Mrs Celestina Osin, the Principal Manager (Public Affairs), TCN, Lagos Region, disclosed this in an interview in Lagos.

    According to her, all these communities are under Ikeja Electric Plc.

    She said the upgrading of transformer, which commenced on Oct.16, was for five weeks or more depending on the conclusion of the project by the contractors.

    The spokesperson, however, assured that said the upgrading of the transformers would increase the load capacities of the two sub-stations.

    “At Ejigbo 132/33KV Transmission Substation, two NO 30MVA transformers are being upgraded to 100MVA transformer, so the station transformer capacity will now go from 160MVA to 300MVA.

    “Also, Alimosho 132/33KV Transmission Substation has one NO 30MVA transformer being upgraded to 100MVA. Station transformer capacity will now increase from 160MVA to 230MVA.

    “Consequently, Ejigbo 132/33KV Transmission Substation load will now increase to 240mw from 128mw.

    “At the same time, Alimosho 132/33KV Transmission Substation load will go from 128mw to 184mw,” she said.

    She said the management of TCN and Ikeja Electric Plc would work to avoid power outage, promising that s electricity supply would be given to electric consumers for some hours.

    Osin appealed to all communities affected by the irregular supply to bear with the situation, adding that the objective of the project was to serve them better.

    On Oct. 12, Ikeja Electric had in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Mr Felix Ofulue, notified residents of Lagos communities of outage which he said would last over a month.

    Ofulue said that the effort would allow TCN to upgrade some of its transformers in Ejigbo and Akowonjo substations.

    He said Ikeja Electirc Plc would use all available channels to mitigate the negative impact of this necessary upgrade on its customers.

    The affected communities include: NNPC, Bungalow, Ori-oke, Ire-Akari, Ejigbo, Osolo, Ilamoshe Low-cost, Shasha Orisumbare, Oguntade, Foursquare and Airforce and environs.

    The others are: Alimosho, Shasha, Orelope, Akowonjo, Federal Housing Authority, Oki and Okunola and Unity, Kuwait and Olorunadaba.

    NAN

  • Ikeja Electric to list energy thieves

    Ikeja Electric to list energy thieves

    As part of efforts to curb the activities of Energy thieves within its network, one of Nigeria’s leading electricity distribution companies, Ikeja Electric (IE), has embarked on a network wide operation of naming and shaming persons involved in energy theft. This will be done through newspaper publications, other traditional and conventional media platforms.

    This is in addition to the penalties and fines levied for revenue loss due to energy theft; arrests and prosecution of persons involved in meter tampering, bypass, shunting, illegal hook-ups and other forms of illegalities affecting the company.

    Speaking on the exercise, the Company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue explained that energy theft is a serious menace affecting the electricity industry in Nigeria.

    In his words: “From our experience, while some responsible customers rightly continue to demand for improved power supply, a lot are unwilling to pay for such consumption irrespective of the amount billed. So in order to avoid payment, they embark on all forms of schemes to utilize electricity when available without paying a commensurate value. It has therefore become compelling for us as a business to curtail the menace by employing actions within the legal and regulatory framework available

    “Electricity theft is a major factor affecting the reduction of commercial and collection losses of Discos and this further affects their ability to provide improved services including the deployment of free Pre-paid meters to all customers, he noted.

    Ofulue however, appealed to customers to desist from such criminal acts, as anyone caught, no matter how highly placed, will not be spared. The plea of ignorance of the fact of tampering/bypass by a customer will not be entertained.

    “If anyone is in doubt therefore, they are advised to immediately engage their licensed electrical contractors to inspect the connections in their premises. Customers also needs to be aware of the maximum penalty provision of 21 years imprisonment under the Miscellaneous Offences Act”, he said.

    The Task Force is set to commence immediate operations in most parts of the network including Oshodi, Shomolu, Ogudu, Magodo, Ikorodu, Ikeja and environs. Customers can further visit the IE offices nearest to them if they require further clarifications.

  • Why there’s power outage at Igando

    Why there’s power outage at Igando

    The shortfall in electricity supply at Igando, Lagos, has been attributed to frequent vandalism of transformer and other facilities.

    Ikeja Electric Plc., the company incharge of distribution in the area disclosed this yesterday, calling for community support in protecting critical infrastructure.

    According to the firm’s Corporate Communications head, Felix Ofulue, power supply to Igando has been greatly compromised, no thanks to vandalism.

    He said: “The criminal activities have currently plunged over 6,000 households and businesses located in and around Igando into darkness. They largely target transformers and carted away single core and up-riser cables worth millions of naira.

    “In the past two week, over 24 transformers were vandalized in Igando, leaving our customers in total darkness and this is quite worrisome considering the discomfort and economic loss to this community. It is quite troubling and intolerable because innocent customers are suffering.”

    Ofulue noted that the cost of replacing the stolen assets was huge and would take some time to restore.
    While explaining that the company is partnering with security agencies to track culprits, he encouraged vigilant members of the community to report suspected vandals to the appropriate authorities.

    “These vandals sometimes operate from within the community. They keep the stolen assets somewhere.

    They sell to someone. It is possible that one or two people may see something. So, we are calling on these vigilant and patriotic members of the community to speak up, so we can nip this in the bud. Don’t forget that as a business, it is counter-productive to keep replacing assets in a particular location, spending our limited resources, when we could be expanding the network and improving supply in another,” he said.

    Warning perpetrators of the dangers of their actions, Ofulue said the company recently secured conviction of one Ahmed Umar, 31, adding that he was sentenced to six months in prison without an option of fine.

  • Ikorodu communities decry 14 days power outage

    Electricity consumers in some communities in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State, on Thursday complained of living in darkness for 14 days due to power outage.

    The consumers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the affected communities include Erunwen, Grammar School, Solomade, and Kokoro Abu.

    Mr Karimu Adisa, a resident of Kokoro-Abu, said the outage had paralysed commercial and domestic activities in his community.

    He said that the lack of power was unbearable; adding that it was the first time the area is experiencing such long outage.

    “This outage is uncalled for because my community is not under those that were listed as going to be on outage due to maintenance work by Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    “We have been in darkness without any tangible reasons from Ikeja Electric.

    “It would have been better if our community is among those that are on outage due to maintenance work by TCN technical crew but we are not.

    “We believe this is the actual time to enjoy electricity supply because power generation has increased.

    “We are appealing to officials of Ikeja Electric to get to the root of the problem and restore power supply,’’ Adisa said.

    Mrs Funke Ige, a frozen food seller at Solomade, Ikorodu said that the outage had affected her business such that customers no longer patronised her.

    “I am spending close to N3,000 daily to fuel my generator in order to ensure that my frozen food is fresh and actually frozen.

    “In spite of this extra expenditure I cannot increase the price of my goods because customers will not patronise me.

    “We are selling at a loss due to the outage, IE should come and fix our electricity, we are going through hell here,’’ Ige said.

    Also, Mr Johnson Isaac, a resident of Erunwen, described the services offered by the company in the area as poor.

    He said that communities in Ikorodu no longer enjoyed power supply since the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    “The purpose of power sector privatisation has been defeated because since Nov. 1, 2013 electricity supply has not been regular.

    “IE officials are just extorting money from consumers without providing commensurate supply.

    “Our area has been cut-off from the grid without reasonable explanation still they will send their officials at the end of the month to distribute bills without electricity supply.

    “This is injustice and we are waiting for them,’’ Isaac said.

    When contacted, Mr Felix Ofulue, the Head of Ikeja Electric Corporate Communications, said that the company was not aware of the outage in the area.

    Ofulue, however, said that a technical crew would be sent to the communities to identify the fault and restore power supply to the area.

    He apologised to consumers in the area for the outage, assuring them that power would soon be restored to their communities.