Return us to Band B, Ogun residents tell IBEDC

Some residents of Ota, Ogun State, besieged the main office of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company along Idiroko Road, Iyana Iyesi, on Thursday, to demand the immediate reversal of their tariff from Band A to Band B.

The IBEDC said the new tariff had mostly affected the Oju-Ore and Ilogbo axis of the area.

Bearing placards with various inscriptions, the protesters under the auspices of the Balance Measure Impact Initiative, condemned the IBEDC for moving low-income households in the area to the Band A feeder.

Speaking on behalf of the group, a resident, Lukman Odewole, in a statement on Sunday, said, “Return us to Band B and do something quickly about the huge estimated bills you have given consumers in our area. Our people cannot continue like this. Most of us are retirees. Your staff are issuing N94,000, N95,000 estimated bills a residential area.”

Also one of the coordinators, Mr Francis Adeoti, wondered why residential houses would be in the same band with companies like Coca-Cola and C-Way in the area.

Responding, the Business Branch Manager, IBEDC, Ota Hub, Mr Yemi Eluwole, told the group that the idea of Band A is not that of the electricity company alone but of other stakeholders like the Federal Government and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.

“It is not our intention as a business hub to move you to Band A and this is not limited to Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area but the entire country,” he said.

Eluwole explained that the idea arose from the desire to sustain the ongoing improvement in power supply amid the present high cost of providing a kWh of electricity. He said to achieve a stable supply, the government had made massive investments in electricity.

The NERC in the country had since April, increased the tariff for customers in Band A to over N200 per kilowatt-hour N206.80/kWh from N68/kWh.

The Band A customers enjoy a minimum of 20 hours of electricity supply daily. The tariffs for Bands B, C, D, and E, however, remain unchanged.