There is no end in sight to the complaints over exorbitant estimated billing by electricity consumers in Lagos.
Yesterday, residents of Eyiaro and Taiwose Streets in Ogudu parts of the state staged a peaceful protest, accusing the electricity distribution company of exploitation.
They expressed frustration over what they called “incessant crazy billing,” saying the monthly billing is now more than what they pay as house rent.
Also, some residents of Ojodu in Ikeja made similar complaints, saying the crazy billing has become a recurring decimal even as they stated that it has been difficult getting prepaid meter.
One of the residents at Ogudu, Mr. Saheed Dino, who operates a barbing salon in the area said, “Ikeja Electric has started this New Year again by giving us outrageous bill. The most annoying thing is that the bill keeps increasing each month that passes by. I am seriously tired of paying for what I did not consume because most times, I don’t even have electricity supply to attend to my customers as I always end up using my generator to power my shop.”
Another resident, Mr. Asuquo Anselem corroborated Mr. Saheed’s assertions, saying, “It is more painful as several requests have been made verbally and otherwise to see if the bill can be reviewed but the electricity firm turned deaf ears to our plea without considering the negative impact the bill will cause to residents”.
He described the January bill as a complete fraud on the residents.
He added, “This January bill of about N57,300 which was given to us at No. 9 Eyiaro Street Orioke, Ogudu, Lagos is a big fraud. Our compound is a bungalow with five rooms, upon calculation, it shows that each room is to pay about 11,460 which is higher than our house rent per month”.
The residents however pleaded with the government to beam its search light on the electricity company and stop impunity as well as exploitation they are facing in the hands of electricity distribution companies.
A resident of Aina Street in Ojodu, Mr. Olayinka David said from N20,000 in January 2020, their bill is now N95,000.
Spokesman of Ikeja Electric, Mr. Felix Ofulue was yet to respond to our correspondent’s enquiry at the time of filing this report.
