Electricity consumers in some suburbs of Lagos State on Friday, decried poor electricity supply by Ikeja Electric (IE) in the last one month in spite of proclaimed improvement in power generation.
The consumers expressed their feelings in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lago.
Those in Okota, Alaguntan and Gowon Estate areas the hours in which electricity was supplied daily had reduced drastically.
They also said that contrary to their expectations, the reduction in supply was not accompanied by reduction in monthly billing by the company.
Mr Godfrey Okoro, a resident of Okota, said the inconsistent power supply in the area had become ”dehumanising.”
Okoro further said the power supply to Okota had reduced considerably, compared to the estimated billing being brought by IE representatives, resulting in unnecessary confrontation between the consumers and the IE staff.
“What is our sin in this area that IE always give us electricity for just one hour? To make matters worse, this light comes in the middle of the night when we are usually asleep.
“The company will not even consider the shortfall at the end of the month while distributing bills for the previous month.
“This is injustice, we hope that the privatisation of power in Nigeria will provide results to the lingering power supply problems, but it is even worse now,’’ Okoro said.
Another consumer from Gowon Estate, Mr Joseph Folorunsho, said energy supply to the area had reduced in the last two months for reasons IE could not explain.
Folorunsho said, “It is unfortunate that we are experiencing this blackout; we pay our bills regularly, yet there is no value for the money we pay for electricity.
“I thought the new government will bring us out of the doldrums but it appears we are being plunged deeper into darkness by the DISCOs.
“It is so bad that you cannot buy food items in bulk to store in the freezer to save cost in this harsh economy, this is terrible.’’
Mr Abiodun Yusuf, a resident of Alaguntan in Alimosho Local Government Area, said that the transformer supplying energy to the community had been faulty since February, causing irregular power supply with no solution in sight.
Yusuf appealed to the company to replace the old transformer, adding that the outage had domestic and economic repercussions for the community.
When contacted, Mr Felix Ofulue, the Head, IE Corporate Communications Unit, said the shortfall in power supply to consumers was due to the reduction in the supply received from the National Grid (NG).
According to Ofulue, it is what IE gets from the national grid that it shares equitably among its customers.
“Some may seem to get more than the others because of a combination of technical and commercial factors.
“From Okota to Ikotun, cases of vandalism are very rampant and this is contributory to reduction in power supply to consumers in those areas.
“In the last three months, we have witnessed more than 10 cases of vandalism in these areas,’’ the IE official said.
Ofulue, assured the residents of Alaguntan that another transformer would be provided for the community soon.
For Iyanapaja and Gowon Estate residents, he said the irregular power supply being experienced in the two areas were as a result of collapsed towers at Shagari Estate.
“The collapsed towers at Shagari Estate have affected the Agege and Ipaja injection, and disrupted power to many areas within that environment.
“However, we are on top of the situation as repairs are ongoing on the towers, it should be completed by the end of May.’’
He apologised for the inconveniences caused by irregular power supply to all the areas, saying that the company was concerned and working to normalise the situation. (NAN)
ROR/COF/DUA