From Kayemo News
Residents of Ado- Ekiti, the State capital, have expressed dismay over what they described as sudden increase in electricity tariff by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
The unilateral hike, which customers say was implemented without prior notice or official communication, has left many households and businesses in shock as power units purchased for the same amount of money have drastically reduced.
Worse hit by this increase are customers under estimated billing who are receiving outrageous bills without commensurate electricity supply.
Findings by our reporters revealed that residents are lamenting the sharp and unexplained drop in the value of electricity units loaded on their prepaid meters.
One of the affected customers, Mr Ojo Demola said he could not believe his eyes when he recharged recently only to realise that the units had burnt out.
“I used to buy N100,000 worth of electricity and got thousands of units. But when I purchased the same amount a few days ago, I only got around 300 units. It’s totally unacceptable and capable of putting more pressure on the already overstretched Nigerian masses.”
Another resident, Oguntuase Femi narrated how his household has been thrown into discomfort due to the increase in the estimated bills from BEDC with erratic supply of electricity.
An electricity agent, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, confirmed that customers have been confronting him over the unexplained hike in the BEDC tariffs .
“Customers have been giving me a tough time since the beginning of the month. Before now, N5,000 gave over 100 units, then it reduced to about 80 units. But now, they are getting only around 22 units for the same N5,000. It’s really bad,” he said.
He added that the increment caught everyone unawares and called on the Ekiti State Government to intervene urgently to prevent further hardship.
“The government must step in and do something to ensure a reversal of this obnoxious increment,” he pleaded.
As of the time of filing this report, efforts to obtain a response from BEDC officials were unsuccessful, as no senior staff in the company’s in Ado-Ekiti office volunteered to speak on the matter.
Meanwhile, consumer rights advocates and civil society groups in the state are said to be mobilising to petition the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for an immediate investigation and reversal of the tariff increase, which they described as exploitative and anti-people.