EKEDC staff extort households over prepaid meter form — Investigation

 

By Prince Okafor Despite the Federal Government’s intervention targeted at addressing the Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos shortfalls through the provision of prepaid meters, there are indications that residents under Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC, networks pay as high as N15,000 to acquire prepaid meter forms from marketing staff. An investigation by Energy Vanguard showed that the practice by the DisCos became more obvious after some marketers attached to various areas across the state disclosed that from February there would be a massive distribution of prepaid meters.

 

Consequently, residents not able to withstand the current estimated charges were compelled to pay. For instance, our correspondent saw a marketer, who shared photocopied forms to residents, and also guided them in filling the customer’s sections, adding that the other pages will be filled by a certified contractor.

 

In his words: “The remaining page would be filled by a licensed electrical contractor and, for us to help you out on that and ensure you are among those that will get prepaid metre, you will have to pay N15,000. “I should have charged you more, just that I felt your pain knowing how much you are owing us currently. “We have over 10,000 customers yet to be metered in our network and we just received only 4,000 meters. After your payment, I will ensure you are among the first batch that will be metered.” Reacting to the development, the company’s Assistant General Manager, Babatunde Lasaki, stated: “EKEDC, as a company, does not condone any form of extortion as it is against what we stand for as an organisation. “We enjoin our customers to report to us through any of our offices or anonymously, with evidence by e-mail.

 

“We have also communicated our customers through different channels to neither give nor condone any form of demand from our staff and, should such happen, they should report with names, location and staff number. “We encourage our customers to report these incidences, for us to do our investigations and take disciplinary actions to serve as a deterrent to others.” It would be recalled that on September 1, 2020, the DisCos notified their customers of the commencement of the implementation of a new electricity tariff regime. According to the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, James Momoh: “Under these service-based principles, DisCos will only be able to increase tariff rates for customers when they consult with customers, commit to increasing the number of hours of supply per day and quality of service.”

 

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