By Yusuf Oketola
Business activities were paralysed for over two hours at the office of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Station Road, Osogbo, State of Osun, as shop owners at Orisunmbare besieged the place to register their displeasure over high rate of electricity tariff and estimated bills, otherwise known as ‘crazy bill’, being issued to the complex.
The Chairman of the Orisunmbare Shopping Complex, Alhaji Ibrahim Khalid, said shop owners at the complex needed to protest the crazy bill being given to them by the IBEDC because they could no longer foot the exorbitant bills.
Khalid, who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER during the protest said:
“Our members could no longer bear the high electricity tariff by IBEDC. That is why we needed to embarked on this protest. We are no longer interested in their electricity supply.
“They should disconnect us. We cannot bear it anymore. So, when we get to their office today, they told us that they will discuss the issue at the management level and get back to us.
“We have about 400 lock-up shops here in the complex, including the extensions. The IBEDC brings about N550, 000 to N600, 000 estimated bills per month. Some are even paying for what they do not use while some are not even coming to open their shops and they are required to pay.
“We have been complaining about this same issue for over two years and nothing was done about it by the IBEDC. We have discussed with the General Manager today and he promised to take action on it”.
Also speaking with OSUN DEFENDER, a legal practitioner, Mr. Daud Ajetunmobi, who also owns a shop at the shopping complex, said, “What prompted us to take the decision of this protest is based on what we have been experiencing in the last four months. We have been experiencing what we could describe as crazy estimated bills.
“The position of the law now as per the decision of National Electricity Regulatory Council (NERC) is that every consumer must be metered and the estimated bill should stop. But, IBEDC still continues doing that.
“So, they are not working towards what the law says. Two months ago, we were there to express our grievances and they promised that it is going to be rectified. This place does not contain only market men and women. We also have professionals like legal practitioners, medical doctors and political appointees as well.
“Our major demand is that they should rectify the crazy estimated bill, and we should be metered. We have had arrangement with them later today”.
When contacted, the Regional Communications Officer, Osun Region of the IBEDC, Mrs. Kikelomo Owoeye, said owners of shops at Orisunmbare Shopping Complex only came to make complaint at their and not a protest.
According to Owoye, the aggrieved people were addressed by the Business Manager of the IBEDC, who assured them that something would be done on their complaint.
Meanwhile, the Business Hub Manager and the Technical Engineer attended to the Customers explaining the details of the tariff rate and classification.
However, the directive for change of tariff is from Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and there is no fraudulent manipulation on the account of the market which is on MD1 at present tariff rate of N61.33 on Band A with minimum supply of 20hrs per day.
