Kogiflame
Electricity consumers in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, have slammed the power distribution company for what a section of them described as ‘Band A Assumption Billing.’
An aged widow, who was a victim, told our reporter that her bill for the month of August assumed she was on ‘Band A’ and was billed almost ₦98,000 against her supposed ₦22,000 or thereabout.
“I rushed down to their office and complained bitterly. It took several back and forth and even demand for thorough investigation of my residence before they changed the bill back to what it should be,” she told our reporter.
Another victim of the irrational billing, Mr Hamza Sadiq, armed with his letter of complaint and sighted by our reporter, said it was unfathomable that his residence which does not enjoy consistent electricity as those on Band A or 33 KVA supply line could be so insensitively billed.
“It is ridiculous and to me, it shows incompetence and lack of professionalism on their (AEDC) part. I know a few people on that Band A for real, whose billing was not even up to the amount they are billing me.
“As we speak, I have my letter of complaint ready for submission and I am ready to take it to any level, until they bill me according to the Band I belong and the amount of supply I consume.”
In a swift reaction to the issue, the Secretary of Kogi based electricity pressure group, Light Up Movement, Yabagi Mohammed said the leadership is on top of the situation and that they have also received several complaints on the matter from consumers.
He urged electricity customers in Lokoja and the state in general, to be patient as the leadership is in talks with the management of the AEDC in the state, to see to the correction of errors in customer billing.
“Given the current economic climate in the country, it is understandable for customers to get easily agitated over irrationality in billing. We (the leadership of Light Up Movement) are not resting on the matter. We have received their complaints and already working with the AEDC to ensure the matter is amicably addressed.
Meanwhile, staffs of the AEDC in Kogi State have exonerated themselves and the region for the mix-up, stating that the billing system comes from ‘above’ as they put it.
Asked why the staff who engage with the customers on a daily basis and know their customers better not be in charge of billing in accordance with what the customers consume, they said it is a new policy put in place by the new management in Abuja.
An online newspaper, Daily Post reported in June, how a residential Band A electricity customer in Gwarinpa slammed the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company as his electricity bill increased to N836,000 in a single month in May 2024 from N85,294 in April.
In that report, the medium said that the electricity customer, Osinachukwu Nnadi received the estimated billing with rude shock on June 21.
The customer noted that the highest bill he had received was N85,000 in April when he was informed that his three-bedroom flat in the Setraco area of Gwarinpa fell under Band A (With Meter No 721338022).
According to him, his bills in January 2024 were N29,179.37, N44,315.00 (February), N48,607.95 (March), and N85,294.06 (April).
“We have been receiving increment in bills since the beginning of the year (2024) with no explanation as to why the increase; we have always paid within the time frame given.
“However, I received with rude shock on Friday, June 21, 2024, the outrageous energy bill of N836,834.40 for May 2024 for a 3-bedroom Residential flat located at the above address and I feel it was an erroneous bill hence this letter.
“We have been tenants in this apartment for years and this bill is incongruent with previous bills received after our pre-paid meter got bad as reported by your officials and all efforts to replace same have not been successful, which led to an estimation of bills.
“More so, we have not added any energy-consuming equipment thereafter”, he said in the letter.
Recall that in April 2024, NERC approved a 245 percent electricity tariff hike to N225 per Kilowatt-hour from N66kwh.
