Communities protest estimated billing

Residents of Oshodi, Mafoluku, Shogunle, and Ewu-Tuntun communities staged a peaceful protest at the Ikeja Electric (IE) Okota business unit on Wednesday, demanding an end to estimated billing and the provision of prepaid metres.

Supreme News reports that the protesters, who carried placards with various inscriptions, expressed frustration over exorbitant bills in spite of frequent power outages.

The inscriptions partly read: “No to estimated billing," “No to meter selling," “All crazy bills must be reversed, "All our communities must be supplied with prepaid  meters, and “All IE enforcement teams are not allowed to carry out disconnection until further notice.”.

Others are: “No to epileptic power supply," “No more disconnection without court order," “No more artificially inflated charges," “Billing for non-existent or removed analogue meters is prohibited,” “We need clear communication on billing and payment procedures,” among others.

The spokesman for the protesters, Mr. Abdul-Rauf Olowora, said that the failure of IE to give electricity prepaid meters to customers had brought untold pains to many homes and businesses.

He emphasised the need for transparency and accountability in billing practices.

Olowora said: “In some areas in Mafoluku, there is no light and the funniest part of it is that when the IE officials are to bring their bills, it will be N150,000, N183,000, N200,000 per building, without power supply.

“We do not want this any more. We are here to tell them that enough is enough. We cannot be staying in darkness and still be paying for darkness.

“We don’t want to see MD 1 (what it means we do not know) in our communities. We do not want anything called Band A, Band B, or Band C in our communities any more.

“This is a tactic to continue to shortchange the common man in Nigeria. We are staying no; we do not want it.”

Ronke Ajibade, another community leader, appealed to the government to intervene and address the persistent issue of estimated billing.

“These people, (IE), want to kill us. The IE wants to receive all the proceeds of our labour every months. Enough is enough,” Ajibade said.

Speaking after a meeting with the management of the Ikeja Electric, Mr Babatunde Faleye, the Chairman of the four communities, urged the company to prioritise the provision of prepaid meters to resolve the ongoing dispute.

Faleye emphasised the importance of a swift and effective solution to prevent further escalation.

Faleye said: “There is a problem brewing in the communities and our people are tensed now. If IE does not want a problem to start, the way out now is to get us metres.

“This is generally agreed as the way to go. We hope that IE lives by its words after our meeting today.”

The chairman explained that the communities has agreed to explore vendor financing as a means of securing meters for every household.

He also hinted that IE had promised to respond to their demands next week.

According to him, the protesters remain resolute in their fight for fair billing practices and reliable electricity supply.

“The provision of metres should be the sole responsibility of the electricity distribution company to measure their products we are buying.

“It should be made available to the customers without pay,” he added.