News: The Confusion, Nightmare And Pains Of Electricity Prepaid Metre

Former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, as Minister of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari automatically brought smiles to the faces of a lot of people.

Lagos – The appointment of former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, as Minister of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari automatically brought smiles to the faces of a lot of people. For them, Fashola comes with a pedigree of a performer. He was largely viewed as the that began the transformation of Lagos into a model State and that simply meant to the people that he has knowledge and capacity to overhaul and revamp the erratic power sector. Basically, the conclusion was that he would succeed where others had failed woefully, after all his antecedents speak for him.

While appreciable work has not been noticed in the Housing arm of Fashola’s triadic portfolio since he hit the ground running, the Power and Work sectors could be said to have witnessed some appreciable level of work with construction and maintenance of several roads all over the country and the turnaround maintenance of electricity generating plants.

That the Minister has been able to achieve the much he’s done in the last one year is enviable. To assure the masses that he and his team were working assiduously, the minister even tendered his one year report at a recent event which held at Protea Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos State on Friday, November 11, tagged ‘State of Play.’ While this is desirable there is still a lot of work to be done and corrections to be made.

Presently, one aspect of the power sector, which requires attention, is the metering of the country with the pre-paid metre and its subsequent maintenance. While this might be considered a minute picture of a bigger challenge especially with the minister having to wriggle within three key sectors, the trouble which the pre-paid metre is causing Nigerians is fast becoming a nightmare.

Coming from an era of crazy bills, estimated bills and what have you, Nigerians initially welcomed the prepaidmeter with a lot of enthusiasm. For them, it was going to serve as an end to long years of pains, sorrow, embarrassment and harassment from officials of the then National Electrical Power Authority (NEPA), and later Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

The registration process for the pre-paid metre marking a new beginning in electricity distribution and billing was seamless. The awareness about the metre was indeed lovely, as landlords marvel at the fact that the era of men banging on their gates, asking for bills and proof of payment and subsequently climbing their poles to disconnect their light was over. With the new scheme, you could decide not to buy electricity or manage your light yourself without anyone disturbing you. To a lot of house owners, it was like a movie, but it was indeed true. As if that was not good enough, the power firms also managed to organise outstanding bills in such a way that it could be conveniently paid, while you continue to enjoy the pleasure of the newly installed pre-paid metre. The icing on the cake for the pre-paid metre was that it also came with a “supposed free” 40 units to test run the equipment. For many house owners, this was just out of the world.

However, just when the fantasy was beginning to settle-in the rude shock that the metre was for sale came to fore. The single phase meter was to go for as much as N28, 000 (Twenty Five Thousand Naira), while the double phase sold for N55,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira).

The cost of the metre was a rude shock to a lot of people, as question such as why should house owners pay for the metre when it was supposed to be an equipment for service providers to bill customers reared its head. People also wondered why it had to cost that much to get a metre. Others who thought they were set to enjoy the dividends of the All Progressive Congress (APC) government were indeed shocked by the development. At some point, the cost of the pre-paid metre almost became its undoing before it was settled by a £24. 56m fine placed on four power firms by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), for various violations.

While the fine was not because the power firms were selling the pre-paid metre, it became a riot act for them. With the riot act read, the ball was set in motion. The project, which had almost gone comatose, picked up again and officials of power firms sprang into action and started metering houses like their life depended on it. The situation was such that power firms gave installation officials unrealistic targets per day. Metres which had been lying in the open air exposed to rain and sunshine hit the road, and smiles returned to the faces of house owners.

However, while smiles returned to the faces of some people, it was not the same for others, as the metres were still being sold in some places. While it was installed for free in areas such as Ojodu Berger in Lagos State, Alagbole area of Ogun State and its environs, it was basically pay and get your meter in locations such Lekki and Lagos Island. The situation left a lot of questions in its wake. Why were some power firms selling the metre and others giving it out for free? Are these firms selling the metres not being regulated by NERC? Was NERC really doing its job? Have firms such as the Ikeja, Ibadan, Enugu, and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company not learnt any lessons in the new order of doing things right? These and several other questions were asked with no answers forthcoming.

All these were before the power firms were hit by another challenge, the paucity of funds. The project, which had entered a new phase due to the fine imposed, soon got into a slow motion, as power firms began to complain of lack of funds to import metres. Partnerships with local manufacturers were also not forthcoming. Allegations and counter allegations were made. Alleged efforts to get loans from the local banks failed, as such attempts were none productive simply because the power firms couldn’t provide guarantees.

The situation thus brought house owners back to the early days of lobbying to pay for the metre. Interestingly, some people have even alleged that they paid as much as N15,000.00 (Fifteen Thousand Naira) for registration forms which is supposed to be free.

A staff of Eko Distribution Company (EEDC), who spoke with Independent under anonymity, revealed that top officials and foot soldiers of the power firms are more interested in the old ways of estimated billing so that it would be business as usual. Further, he revealed that a Chinese company had its proposal rejected because it proposed to metre the country with house owner’s paying N500.00 (Five Hundred Naira), per month for two years. According to him, had the proposal sailed through the whole of the country would have had metres in two years. “However, this is not what officials of the power firms want. They want their boys to go out and give them return when they get back to the office,” he said.

Interestingly, while it is a thug of war to get the metre, case of faulty metres without any technician to maintain or repair them have also abound. Report of how meters have packed up is common topic among house owners.

For some people, their nightmare is the fact that the box-like machine made available by power firms to credit accounts and also check balance have packed up, while for others it is the pre-paid metre itself. A visit to the headquarters of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC), at Secretariat Road, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, revealed a lot of people with complaints about one thing or the other. Men and women are also seen clutching their devices with some coming out of the office with long faces, other amazed by the fact that power firms would embark in a major project as the importation of such complex machines, without recourse for its maintenance and repair.

Speaking with Independent, Mrs. Chinwe Eze, who is based in Lagos, revealed how her metre packed up. According to her, she severally called the IKEDC customer care centre to help salvage the situation for a month without any response. When they eventually came they couldn’t solve the problem, but promised to return the following day, she said. Mrs. Eze revealed that it’s been three months now without anybody from the power firm coming back to check on her. This is despite the fact that she has continued to call the customer care centre with her complaint.

Mr. Akin Olayemi also spoke about how his community was punished for months with barely three hours of light a day basically because the IKEDC had concluded that some people in his locality were bypassing their metres. He wondered why the power firm expected people to stay in darkness when their metres are bad and there is no one to repair it. He also wondered why a community would be punished for the sins of a few. Further, he advocated for proper monitoring saying that with such, those exploiting the firm’s installations would be caught and punished.

According to him, it is only people who are not ready to work that will sit down in their offices and pass judgment on a community when only a few have sinned.

The tale of how a particular power firm supplied a community with bad metres simply because they got it for free, and gave out good ones to those ready to buy within the same community has also been confirmed by Independent.

However, IKDC is not the only power firms in this mess, as Ibadan, Enugu, and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company have also had their share of criticism.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), once expressed worries over the inability of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) to fully implement the pre-paid metre regime in Rivers State.

The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has also been fined the sum of N21.2 million by the NigerianElectricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for violations.

Amidst the speculations and allegations is one simple fact, that the pre-paid metre project has been dealt a terrible blow and it has been left reeling on the floor at the mercy of power firms with the masses at the receiving end.

Presently, question of when the project will continue again are being asked, posers relating to plans by the power firms to generate revenue to bring in new metres have also been asked, as house owners hold the belief that the pre-paid metre project has encountered a major setback.