The residents of Iree, a town under Boripe Local Government, Osun State have lamented over the high charges of electricity by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC in the town.

In an interview with Lagos local news, the residents bemoaned that the money charged is always excessive compare to what they consume every month.

A student that spoke on anonymity explained that sometimes they will bring the bill of twenty thousand naira instead of the normal price of eight thousand, then after the residents complain, they will tell them to pay the normal amount, asserting that the error is from the machine.

"They will bring twenty thousand naira or sometimes fifteen thousand naira, and after making a complaint, then apologise and affirm that it's an error from the machine, telling us to pay any amount out of it.

He explained that after a few months of piling up the outstanding fee, they will be required to pay all the fees and failure to do so will lead to cutting off their light.

"After some months, they keep doing that and tbmje money has been piled up. After their boss now come they will now request the payment of the outstanding bill" he added

Osun Electricity Tariff

It should be noted that the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, (NERC) has on May 6, 2022 released documents confirming approval of increase for six Distribution Companies (DisCom) that has become effective since January 2022.

The DisCos which includes; Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC); Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC); Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC); Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC); Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).

Inferrably, the increase has affected inflation rate, exchange rate, available generation capacity, gas price and US inflation rate.

We are billed more than what we consume, Residents

A resident, Surajudeen Ololade, an herbalist who spoke with this reporter explained that the electricity charges has always been more than what they consume without any remorse from the IBEDC officials.

He elucidated that he has been paying it over the year and has not been complaining since that's what they demand.

He said, "I also pay the IBEDC fee, and they make us understand that what we consume is more than what we think we think it is"

"I always give them what I can afford, but we feel that's how the country is, some other officials might come and they will say we ought to pay more than that. Like here now, I always pay twelve thousand naira every month, and there was a day another person came and told me to add additional three thousand naira but I refused and no one challenged me"

A student of Osun State Polytechnic, Sunday Owolabi of the department of Civil Engineering explained that the IBEDC officials behave in an unorganized way, stating that the price for electricity has never been stable.

Sunday said, "The IBEDC officials sometimes are annoying, the bill increases this month and it decreases next month, without thorough consideration of what we consume, everyone around here has been given an ultimatum to pay the outstanding fee the officials claimed they own"

Sunday reiterated that the bill is always excessive and which is unaffordable for the residents to pay causing the sudden warning of payment of outstanding bills, adding that their electricity has been cut off for some days leaving them in darkness.

He urged the government to lessen their burden and find something to do.

"We urge the government to help us find something to do, as a student, we need electricity, even our project we are going out to do it because there's no light to charge our laptops. We use gas to cook everytime instead of using electric cooker"

A student, Oluwabukunmi Ojo who complained that he was unable to write his project himself due to the unavailability of power supply as it was cut off by the officials some days ago, noted that he was unable to cook because of the high price of gas and the electric cooker that use to be an option cannot be used without electricity.

"Actually, the IBEDC officials do what they are not supposed to do, they ought not cut off the light even when there's evidence that we paid the money and they now said because we owe money which we have paid.

"The officials are fond of doing a shabby work, giving bill anyhow without being meticulous about what we consume'

"The power blackout is affecting us and we that use the light for work, we are unable to work and even unable to cook, the gas is expensive, and the hot plate we ought to use cannot be used since the light has been cut off.

Oluwabukunmi urged the government to look into the matter and find something to do.

However, a student of the institution, Idris of the Elect-elect department noted that the increment in the electric bill has been for months in the town.

He said, "Based on the IBEDC bill for the past few months, it has been occurring where the officials will bring higher bill which everyone is aware of"

"It occurs in several ways that they tell the consumer to pay a certain amount, but when they change the marketer and he sees the amount in the bill, he will insist that the people pay for what they have not consumed that have been accumulated which usually cause controversy between them and the people.

"Some people don't know their rights, being a consumer, we don't have the right to buy the equipment they use but because we don't know our rights, we are forced to pay for the consumption. I urge the government to enlighten the consumer on their right because we are really suffering" He narrated.

Speaking further, Idris noted "We are pleading with the government to please have collaboration with the IBEDC because we are paying more than what we are consuming, the government should work on it. The IBEDC has become the government's property. We are suffering the electric power in this country, the government doesn't know we are suffering from it. If the government enlighten the citizen, there will be less corruption"

An indigene of Iree, Muhammad Ibrahim who claimed to be a farmer, explained that the situation on ground is not limited to iree people but all over the country, adding that they just cut the light off without consideration.

Muhammad Ibrahim, "Pertaining to the electricity, it's not limited to only Iree, we don't have access to electricity the way it ought to be, even those that work in with electricity in the afternoon doesn't have access to it"

"There are times we don't have light, and they are always demanding huge amounts of money and we were forced to pay money if we don't want them to cut off the light". He noted

However, Mohammed thereby urged the government to find something to do to the electricity problem in the town.

Seun Adenike, students of OSPOLY noted, " the government is the cause of the problem, the nepa are not to be blamed. The way the Government increase the due that's why they are doing that"

"Everything is increasing economically and it affects all sectors of the economy" she said

Oladipupo oyindamola, student explained that it has been the wail of everyone in the community, complaining about the high charges by the IBEDC officials.

An indigene of the town, Adeniran Tawa said,

"The light is not coming at the appropriate time and if someone wants to work with it, its not going, and at the end of the month, they will still come with high bill"

We pay according to what we consume, Oja Oba residents

While some residents complained that they pay more than what they consume, it should be noted that some residents in one of the area of the town, Oja Oba speaking with this reporter declined that they have always been charged according to what they consume.

A pastor who spoke to this reporter, Apostle Jacob in his remarks noted that the bill is charged based on what they consume, added that it was the transformer that spoilt that deny them of having access to electricity.

He said, "If not for the recent destruction of the transformer, we should have light by now. In this area, I don't think anyone have issue with the bill, we are always charged according to what we consume"

Speaking on behalf of others that are affected, apostle Jacob pleaded with the government to find something to do so as to ensure smooth flow of power supply.

A resident, Bibitayo Adesokan who noted that her area has no power supply for few days because of issue with transformer, explained that the issue of high bill doesn't affect their environment.

She said "Our own light has been off for the past few days now , we pay appropriately and they didn't cut it off if not for what just happened

Salamotu, a resident who only gave her first name said "The wire has not been there and our own wire has been removed but they always bring bills based on how we use the light.

Mulikat Olatooyan who also claimed they are always charged according to how they use the light explained that , though they always bring the light days before they come with bills, affirmed that she has never paid more than what she use.

The Citizens consume more than what they pay, Iree IBEDC Marketer.

To get the reactions of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company officials in Iree, this reporter had an interview with a marketer in the office, Omoloye Kazeem who explained that people are fond of complaining even if they charge below what they use, noted the electricity supplying them is valuable and it is also purchased from the federal government.

He said "if we bill them ten thousand naira per month, they will complain, due to the terrain they found themselves, that's what made them have huge outstanding amount of money.

"The bill they are using is even more than what they consume and their debt becomes accumulated every month. An agent that have been keeping such a habit will now have a huge outstanding amount to pay" he said.

Kazeem speaking further noted that if the citizens are told to purchase prepaid meter, they will refuse, adding that it's because they know the high rate of electricity they consume every month.

"If you ask them to purchase a prepaid meter, they will say no and it's because they know they use more than what they are consuming.

They believe that there's no economic resources here, and that's why they feel they should pay less fee. We are managing them, they underpay our charges, we are managing them so there won't be any conflict. We orientate them that this light we are giving them is of value and we are also buying it from the federal government and we pay for it and we can't use our money to buy it" he noted