The Licensed Electrical Contractors Association and Trading of Nigeria (LECAN) has accused the management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) of exploitation, harassment and inhumane treatment.
Speaking with journalists during a protest in Osogbo, Osun state, Thursday, a LECAN official, Michael Adebayo, stated that despite the clear stipulation of roles of distribution companies (DISCO) workers, electrical contractors and consumers in the Electricity Act of 2013, IBEDC workers have usurped the responsibility of licence contractors.
He said: “As ordinary residents, we are now at the mercy of IBEDC workers to get an electricity metre, who ordinarilly should be responsible for connection to national grid. IBEDC workers have become barriers to residents joining the grid through excruciating conditions.
“They have made ordinary account generation a problem in a bid to exploit the innocent and unsuspecting customers.
“IBEDC fraudulently exploit customers as those given new accounts were usually charged a debit minimum of N100,000 on newly created account even before joining the grid.
“This unknown debt would even be transferred into the customer’s prepaid metres, thereby, paying for service never rendered contrary to the Electricity Act.
“Also customers having one problem or the other on their prepaid metres supplied by IBEDC were made to suffer for technical issues that are never their fault.
“For instance, when a metre developed a fault, instead of replacing such metres, customers are forced to pay for another one or be placed direct or fraudulent estimated billing thereby turning these customers to perpetual debtors. Some affected customers are with us.
“Also some customers, whose electricity metres required that their cards be submitted for metre upgrade, IBEDC have refused to return their cards and this is Illegal. We are also of the opinion that the Band system is not working and therefore the concept of Band A is a fraud.
“We also challenge IBEDC workers that the Electricity Act does not permit them to take up the role of electrical contractors, thereby exploiting residents who are desperate to buy/replace or repair damaged transformers. In some cases, installed transformers are not powered because IBEDC are not given adequate ‘PR’ to connect such transformers to the national grid.
“We declare that this act of fraud is enough and demand that IBEDC workers should stop unnecessary exploitation of innocent customers thereby inflicting hardship on the people in this period of economic downturn.
“IBEDC should stop defrauding customers through debt that they do not give any service for. We also demand that IBEDC should restrict themselves to their role in line with the provision of the Electricity Act and should not turn themselves to the electricity contractors.”