By Giwa SHILE
Residents of Chanchaga area of Niger,near Minna, on Tuesday decried regular increase in electricity bill by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and the use of analogue meters while demanding for pre-paid meters.
The electricity consumers, who spoke separately, wondered why the arbitrary increase in their monthly bills.
According to them, the development becomes more worrisome when officials of AEDC hardly visit their houses to read the meters, with a viewto knowing the actual electricity they consumed.
Mr Sylvester Bala, Chairman, St. John Road in the area said that AEDC was found of distributing “astronomical bills“ to consumers without coming round to read their meters.
He said: ‘The bills they bring to my house keeps increasing so much that I pay between N3, 000 and N6, 000 per month. This is unacceptable because this is my private resident, I don’t package sachet water here.
“It is one year now I applied for pre-paid meter, what is stopping the organisation from giving it to me.
“I suspect conspiracy, some people are making money from this crazy billing, if not, they should give me the meter I applied for so that this problem will stop,’’ he said.
Hajiya Maimuna Ibrahim, another resident of the area, said that when she complained about the unjust increment in the electric tariff, AEDC officials told her it was according to her meter.
Ibrahim said that when she called another official to look at the meter, she was told that what she was consuming per month was far below what was written on the bill.
“You can imagine when I consume N2, 500 in a month and I am given N3, 400, sometimes N4, 700 per month.
“They hardly supply us electricity and this bill keeps increasing. I have applied for the so-called prepaid meter but it is not forthcoming,’’ she said.
Mrs Theodora Jerry, who operates a provision store in the area, said that she was contemplating telling the AEDC to disconnect from the list of its customers her to enable her use generator.
Jerry said that it was astronomical bills that forced her to apply for the pre-paid meter but expressed concern that it had not come, nine months after the application.
“In this small provision store, I pay electricity bill between N7, 000 and N15, 000. Right now, I am owing AEDC N120, 000 as outstanding, what is my gain in this business then,’’ she said.
When contacted the management of AEDC North Central regional office in Minna, Malam Adamu Mohammed, the Regional Public Relations Officer, denied that AEDC overbilled electricity consumers in the area.
On meters, Mohammed said that AEDC was not responsible for issuing the pre-paid meters but some companies engaged by the Federal Government did.
He explained that the first batch of the meters allocated to the state had been distributed to the consumers, adding that another batch was expected by February 2019.
“The companies distributing and fixing the meters will call you or text you on the telephone number you used to apply for the pre-paid meter.
“The application attracts no money, it is free of charge but you have to fill a form for new building that has not been registered with the AEDC.
“We appeal to our consumers to be patient as these meters are produced and distributed on the basis of first come first serve,’’ he urged.
Chanchaga is a community in Chanchaga Local Government Area of the state, near Minna, the state capital.
