Residents of some communities in Ota, Ogun State have decried the high electricity tariff imposed on them as a result of their being upgraded to Band A by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
The communities, numbering 31 and under the aegis, Ota Area Community Development Committee (OACDC) said the electricity tariff now gulps a large chunk of the resident’s income.
This development, they said has been making it difficult for them to meet up with other basic needs and necessities of life.
Some of the residents said they now spend above N35,000 monthly to buy power for a three bedroom apartment, instead of about N10,000 paid before being upgraded to Band A .
The complaint was lodged on their behalf by Senator Olamilekan Adeola via letter dated August 6, 2024 and addressed to the Managing Director of IBEDC.
Copies of the letter was also sent to the Chairman of Ado Odo Local Government and National Electricity Regulatory Commission, Olota of Ota and House of Reps member, Hon.Tunji Akinosi.
In the letter, the communities said some people have started moving out of their communities, both tenants and landlords, as a result of high electricity tariffs.
Affected communities include ; Greenland Estate, Elejigbo Estate, Golden Estate, Itesiwaju Oruba, Olorunsogo, Wonderland Isele, Unity & Peace Estate, Isokan Ewele, Godstown Estate, Harmony Garden, Ifesowapo Ijagba, Excellence CDA, Ti Oluwani, Isokan Ijagba, Love & Unity, and Eledi Estate among others.
The letter was jointly signed by Chairman, OACDC, Alhaji Fatai Aina,
General Secretary, Electricity Committee, Mr Alao Salimon and 31 others from various affected communities.
They are requesting for removal of their communities from Band A to Band B which they believe will attract lesser payment.
“It is our believe that a lower electricity tariff or redeployment to Band B will go a long way to make life more bearable for majority of our members, reduce incidence of meter bye pass by some unscrupulous people and lead to increase in the level of your revenue generation, as CDAs will be able continue to monitor the level of compliance with the electricity rules and regulations put forward by your company (IBEDC).”
They noted that : “the communities have made sacrifices to provide electricity infrastructure through self efforts, such as erection of concrete poles, underground cables, provision and installation of transformers, conductors among others and maintenance without the input of your organisation (IBEDC) or any government agency.
“This is no doubt , a capital project which our communities had to undertake to enable us get out of darkness and live a better life when nobody was ready to help us.
“Having gone through all of these , we believe that at this stage , we ought not to be going through this current excruciating pain in paying electricity bills due to high tariff occasioned from Band A from your company.
“Consequently, we the executive committees of these CDAs hereby request on behalf of our people that your distribution company restores us back to the former tariff that we were enjoying before the introduction of band A or redeploy us to band ‘B’ as we can no longer afford the high rate.
This decision has been ratified by the residents in our various CDAs and agreed upon at our general meeting since we are no longer comfortable with band A,”. (vitalnewsngr.com)
