‘Crazy’ electricity bills: Ebonyi Assembly constitutes Committee to investigate Enugu Electric

 

.As Rights group demands revocation of DISCOs licence

 

 

By Clement Nnachi (abakaliki) and Phil Okose, Onitsha

 

 

The Ebonyi State House of Assembly, on Monday constituted a Committee to investigate the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), over alleged exorbitant bills charged on the citizens.

 

Moving a Motion under Matters of Urgent Public Importance, the Deputy Speaker of the House Hon Kingsley Ikoro, decried the tremendous increase in tarriff without commensurate supply.

 

Hon Ikoro who represents Afikpo North West Constituency, urged the Lawmakers to invite the management of EEDC, for an explaination.

 

According to Hon Ikoro, “in Afikpo North Local Government Area, no light has been recorded in the last eight years.

 

Seconding the submission, Hon Nkemka Onuma representing Afikpo South West Constituency, lamented the arbitrary increases in tarriffts.

 

” Ebonyians are being taken for granted, people without light are being charged heavy bills’

 

“EEDC must be summoned to explain the reasons for the exploitation of the people

 

Various Speakers who made contributions, condemned the services of EEDC to the people of the State.

 

When the Speaker put the Motion  to vote, it was unanimously adopted.

 

The Lawmakers resolved to set up a Committee to investigate the activities of  the Company.

 

Members of the Committee included Chairman of the House Committee on Power and other members.

 

The Committee were charged to visit the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company ascertain the basics of charging customers for services not used.

 

Also, The Federal Government has been called upon to as a matter of urgency and immediacy, revoke the licenses of Electricity Distrubution Companies (DISCOs) in the country.

 

A human rights group, Ndigbo Unity Forum, (NUF), made the call Monday, in Onitsha, Anambra State, in a statement signed by its National President, Dede Uzor A. Uzor, and made available to newsmen, recalling that it has become glaring that the privatisation of power in the country by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, was a huge hoax and scam.

 

The group in the statement expressed shock that the All Progressives Congress, APC led Federal Government still allowed this fraudulent scam to continue more than nearly eight years after they took over the reins of power.

 

It lamented that there was nothing  Electricity Dstribution Companies provided for Nigeria except to exploit NIgerians by charging exorbitant cum crazy bills and manipulated prepaid billing system.

 

“The DISCOs of late, introduced fast reading metres by replacing the old ones, while they have bluntly refused to metre those people who are still in estimated billings so that they can continue to exploit them because there’s no different between their criminal exploitative activities and the so called privatisation which came on board years ago,” it hinted.

 

The group lamented that in the face of all these high charges, the services are abysmally and criminally poor as they refuse to supply power to the consumers even when there is avalanche of power in the grid.

 

“Consumers have continued to bear the blunt of replacing packed up transformers, damaged parts and pay for the services  rendered by staff or agents of DISCOs under duress and exploitations

 

“In the face of all this, the services are still abysmally poor. There is low shading. And sometimes, there would be no light for several days, weeks and months due to minor faults especially in Fegge Onitsha, where some areas were classified as industrial and commercial areas respectively.

 

“The said commercial areas got supposedly hours of power against commercial areas, this glaring development must stop. DISCOs have become conduit pipe and an avenue through  which consumers are being  exploited by privileged few who bought over the companies from Federal Government in the name of privatisation through estimated and crazy bills without providing light,” it posited.

 

NUF further accused the companies of not doing anything to improve  power supply or serve their customers satisfactorily except to  collect money from electricity consumers through their crafty, criminal and crazy billings for those in estimated bills.

 

For those using prepaid metres,  NUF said  DISCOs have installed fast-reading metres that make power consumption for the customers very expensive and exploitative.

 

This, the group lamented was in addition to the inbuilt system which makes the metres enter into what they call tamper code.

 

They specifically accused EEDC of corruptive distribution of power and load shading in some commercial and residential areas in South East especially in Fegge area of Onitsha.

 

NUF called for immediate overhaul of power system in Nigeria and removal of feeder mangers,  managers, distribution managers, sectional heads and others involved in contributing to  poor power supply in Onitsha and the entire South East.

 

The group called on Federal Government to develop other sources of generating power such as  solar as well as allow companies, organisations and individuals who can generate their own power to do so and distribute without facing unnecessary bottleneck from the system.