The Landlords, Tenants, Residents Association (LATRA) of Aku and AMAC Estates in Lugbe, FCT on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest over high estimated electricity bills by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
The protesters numbering over 30, comprised of elderly men, women and youths from both estates besieged the headquarters of the AEDC in Abuja to register their grievances over the non-supply of electricity to the area and high estimation bills.
The protesters, who were carrying placards with different inscriptions which read; “AEDC give us light, “we are tired of estimation billing’’ “stop billing us on estimation,’’ “give us our meters“ among other inscriptions vented their anger through different songs.
Mr Mukoro Samson, the Chairman of LATRA, Aku Estate told newsmen that residents of the estate had not be supplied electricity for one month.
According to him, in a bid to help the distribution company, residents contributed money to buy a dedicated transformer, cable and pole for the estate.
He said that the residents had also written to AEDC with over 200 signatories, notifying the company of the epileptic power supply, high estimation bills and non-metering of many of the customers.
Samson said regrettably, the company refused to head to any of their complaints.
According to him, the economic consequences have become unbearable on their families, given the expenditure incurred on running generators.
“The charges are outrageous, for two bedroom flats they give us bill of about N12,000 monthly.
“Even if you are occupying a self-contain apartment, it is the same thing they give and it is unbearable, unheard of without light, if the light is there we will not complain.
“From today, we are demanding that we be metered, and reconnect us to the airport dedicated line where we were formally connected.’’
He said that very few consumers had been metered in the estates, in spite of the payment made by some customers for meter under the CAPMI scheme.
Another customer in the estate, Mr Ekemelu Nnoli said that it was unfortunate that the company had not responded to their complaints.
A resident of AMAC, Mr Samson Chollom also corroborated the same experience by other residents.
According to him, he pays between N14,000 and N15,000 monthly on estimation for a two bedroom flat.
Addressing the protesters, the Head of Corporate Communication of AEDC, Mr Oyebode Fadipe, said that the issue of estimated billing admittedly was vexatious one, applicable to all distribution companies in the country.
He said that the metering gap in the country was more than five million, noting that the metering gap could not be covered overnight.
“It takes a little bit of process, even if you have all the meters in the country today, it will still take a bit of time to make sure that all your customers are metered.
“So, for some time to come, estimated billing is going to be a part of the power sector in this country.
He said that 50 per cent of AEDC revenue was being lost on estimated billing, noting that the company was working hard to meter its customers.
“But as a company, we are ensuring that we fulfill our mandate of at least 120,000 meters annually that is a project we are doing.
Meanwhile, investigation also reveals that some parts of FCT are also faced with the challenge of estimation billing and low power supply.
These areas include Kubua, Nyanya, and Games Village among others. NAN
