Residents across three Lagos communities staged protests on Wednesday because they have been paying more after electricity distribution companies upgraded their power supply without notice.

Many Nigerians have been caught between deciding which of the two options is preferable since the federal government announced a tariff hike for Band A customers who enjoy 20–24 hours of electricity daily.

The residents of some communities in Lagos, including Akinola, Aboru and Oworonshoki, have experienced both and their experiences since September 2 have influenced their choice.

Before September, the residents of Akinola and Aboru had been enjoying an affordable electricity tariff, although with constant power interruptions, and hoped that they would one day enjoy an uninterrupted power supply.

Their hope materialised when they began to enjoy uninterrupted power supply courtesy of being categorised as Band A customers by the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) in September.

If this had happened before the Federal Government increased the electricity tariff for Band A customers from N66 per kilowatt hour to N225 per kilowatt hour in April, it would have been a welcome development.

But since this came five months after the increment, the residents of the communities were appalled by it as many could no longer afford the costs that came with the change.

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FIRST WAS A TEST, THEN A TEXT FOLLOWED

Morakinyo, a resident of Akinola/Aboru, told EQ that the residents noticed that they were enjoying an uninterrupted power supply in August, and word on the streets was that the electricity DisCo was “testing” them to find out if it would work.

“We started enjoying uninterrupted supply in August. According to what we heard, they were testing us to see if it would work. They tested it for about three weeks,” he told EQ on Tuesday.

After three weeks of testing, the residents received text messages from the IKEDC informing them that they had been moved to Band A. This happened without the electricity DisCo inquiring from the residents if they could afford the responsibility and the cost that came with enjoying 20–24 hours of uninterrupted power supply.

“On September 2, they sent us a text message that they had moved us to Band A due to the feeder upgrade. We have been enjoying uninterrupted power supply since then. There were days we did not have an uninterrupted power supply for three consecutive days,” said Morakinyo.

The text message from IKEDC.

The text message from IKEDC read:

“Dear esteemed customer, please be informed that due to a recent feeder upgrade and consequent increase in power supply in your location, your tariff class has been moved from Band B to Band A. Thank you for allowing us to serve you.”

Morakinyo also told EQ that although they enjoyed an uninterrupted power supply, the majority of the residents of the community could not afford the Band A electricity tariff.

“The reason we are saying no to this is because of the tariff. 90% of the people here can not afford it. We went from paying between N3,000 and N5,000 to paying about N15,000. Even when we were paying less, we were conscious of our electricity consumption. Some residents did not use electric cookers and other electronic gadgets indiscriminately,” he told EQ.

Other residents told EQ that some residents were paying 300% more than what they used to pay as their electricity bills before the development.

“People who used to spend between N6,000 to N20,000 depending on the size of their houses and home appliances now spend between N30,000 and N100,000, while some even spend over N100,000. I know someone who loaded N10,000 worth of electricity units and it exhausted in 2 days,” Chinedu Bosah, another resident, told EQ on Wednesday.

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‘WE ARE FORCED TO TURN OFF OUR GADGETS EVEN WHEN WE NEED THEM’

EQ learnt that many residents have been forced to turn off their electronic appliances even when they need them. They do this to cut costs.

But even this does not help matters and people using postpaid meters have it worse.

Bosah was formerly on a prepaid metre before his meter got damaged, forcing him to use a postpaid metre. He told EQ that he had spent about N6,000 on electricity charges in August but he was expecting to receive an electricity bill of about N25,000 for September.

“It is terrible. We are now forced to turn off our gadgets, bulbs, fans and almost everything, even when we need them. That is the only way costs can come down, although it won’t be as low as we had it before,” said Bosah.

Abiola Ogunnaike, another resident, repeated the same thing Bosah said. She added that this development was fueling clashes and conflicts among residents.

“Some of us are sharing meters with our neighbours. Here now, three of us are sharing one meter. Imagine if people are sharing meters, there will be problems because you don’t know what electronic gadgets the other person is using in his or her house and before you know it, the units have finished,” Ogunnaike explained.

“How can we contend with that? It is unfair. It is not like we are seeing free money. The government is the only one seeing free money. If we don’t work, we won’t get money and we still have to pay house rent and school fees for our children.”

READ ALSO: ‘It’s Unacceptable’ — Nigerians React to Power Tariff Hike

OWORONSOKI RESIDENTS LAMENT

Although Akinola and Aboru are kilometres away from Oworonshoki, another community in Lagos, the residents of Oworonshoki are battling the same challenge.

Rukayat Balogun, an Oworonshoki resident, told EQ that residents were not consulted before the migration to Band A and the experiences have been frustrating.

“Before now, if I bought N10,000 worth of electricity, I would get 170 units, but I now get 44 units, which would finish between 6 and 8 days. It is frustrating. I have complained and they promised to change it, but nothing has been done,” Balogun lamented.

Segun Gbogboade, another resident of Oworonshoki, told EQ that they migrated from Band C to Band A on September 1 and many houses in the community have received bills of over N300,000 since then.

“My house got a bill of N350,000 in August. There are 12 rooms there and the residents would have to pay up to N50,000 on electricity. My house rent is just N8,000 monthly,” Gbogboade told EQ.

READ ALSO: IKEDC Gives Ikorodu Band C Residents 7-Hour Max Power Supply Instead of 12-Hour Minimum

THE PROTESTS

The residents of both communities perceive this as an injustice and have staged protests with the hope that the electricity DisCo would come to their aid and reverse the decision.

On Thursday, residents of Oworonshoki staged a protest against the migration.

On Wednesday, residents of Akinola and Aboru followed suit and marched to protest against this.

EQ emailed IKEDC on Wednesday, but they had not responded at press time.
The post Band A Bill Pushes Lagos Residents to Protest Upgrade From DisCo appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.