Electricity consumers lament epileptic power supply, say development unacceptable

Electricity consumers in the Federal Capital Territory have continued to lament the epileptic power situation in the territory, describing it as unacceptable.

The consumers who reside in Kubwa, Bwari, Kado, Apo and Dutse spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday.

NAN observed that band A consumers, paying upwards of ₦225/kWh, are experiencing erratic supply, while over 60 per cent of consumers lack prepaid metres and face high estimated bills.

The consumers also reacted to the increase in electricity tariff by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) without consultations.

According to them, they are already experiencing incessant outages, even after paying their estimated bills.

A consumer in Kubwa,  Segun Akinjide, said that he was considering switching to solar energy as a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative.

“I have really suffered lack of electricity in my neighborhood, I use prepared meter and even after recharging my metre, I don’t see electricity.

“This is very frustrating, I appeal to the Federal Government to look into the matter.”

Another consumer in Dutse,  Comfort Chukwu, said that she normally gets 89.9 units for N5, 000 when she purchases credit for her pre-paid meter but now she gets 73.4 units for that amount.

Chukwu said she was surprised when she purchased credit units for her meter and found out that the units had reduced.

Another resident at Wumba in Apo district, Madam Roseline Ugwu, said her house was on estimated billing and she paid N30,000 last month, but now paid N100,000 for electricity.

“I was surprised when they brought the bill for this month and we saw N100,000. How can we pay for such expensive light that was not constant,” she said.

Another consumer, Jane Ella, residing in Bwari said that she purchased 89.9 units for N5, 000 but now she gets 51.7 units for that same amount.

She said that it was so frustrating paying higher tariff when she was not even getting regular power supply.

A resident in Kado,  John Ogar, expressed frustration at being charged ₦13,000 monthly for electricity, even though his area was faced with unending outages due to a faulty transformer.

Yusuf Abdullahi, a small-scale vendor of cold drinks, said his shop had not had electricity for days, yet he still received estimated bills of ₦10,000 monthly.

“We use over 20 litres of diesel daily to keep the drinks cold and run our businesses,” he lamented.

Adeshina Johnson, a resident in Bwari , said that in spite of their transformer being in good condition, they received less than four hours of electricity daily, and only at night.

While calling for a stable power supply, he recommended only a marginal tariff increase to avoid putting additional pressure on the poor.

Another consumer in Dutse,  Thomas Ezekiel said he paid N10,000 last month for 144 units and light in his area had improved compared to before.

“We now have up to between four to five hours of electricity in a day, compared to before when we don’t see up to  three hours in a day,” he said.

A staff of AEDC, who pleaded anonymity, explained that the increase in electricity depended on the bands of consumers.

According to him, they charged per kWh per hour and it depends on the charges on the 33kv transformer in the area.

He explained that the electricity was charged by what the transformer reads in each area.

Meanwhile, NAN reports that NERC had planned to increase electricity tariff.