By Correspondent in Minna.
As the dust raised by the short lived industrial strike by the employees of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) is yet to settle down in some parts of Niger state, customers in the state have called on the company to sit up to justify its essence in electricity distribution.
According to them, the call became necesary in view of the performance of AEDC which they observed is below public expectation.
Many electricity customers who spoke with our Correspondent in Minna, the state capital on Friday, expresed dismay over what they described as excessive and discriminatory billing system by AEDC, compared to the level of services being offered to the public.
Mal.Mohammed Adamu,a consumer, observed that some parts of the state, customers enjoyed uninterrupted supply while others scarcely have light due to faulty or broken down of equipment.
Another consumer, Miss Joy Anthony, claimed that people with pre-paid metres, assumed to be paying more than customers on direct connection as those of them with high power consuming appliances like airconditioners on monthly basis, consumed more than they paid on estimated billings.
This anormaly,she added, AEDC must evolve ways of checking to ensure equal treatment to all.
Investigations by the online publication, however, indicate that while some customers claim of being over billed or use electricity through direct connection and paying little may not be far from real,as the AEDC has confirmed to journalists that the company was facing some challenges regarding such developmnt.
These challenges, the company said, had been causing elements of distrust between it and its customers.
At the Bosso Area Office of the AEDC, where allegations of over billing and other forms of exploitations are said be more, the Area Manager, Engr Yahaya Kura, confirmed that some customers were mistakenly added to different line where the duration of supply is longer.
He, however, refused to expantiate further, claiming that he was not authorised to speak to journalists.
At the Regional headquarters, Alhaji Adamu Mohammed, who is the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Niger region; comprising Bida, Kontagora, Minna and Bosso, said the problems which gave rise to the fault and customers’ complaints would soon be resolved.
Part of the problems that customers are complaining of, Adamu said were due to inadequate number of metres for the 27, 000 estimated customers in the zone who have indicated interest to have metres, adding that out of the number, “only about 5, 000 have been supplied.”
Adamu Mohammed,however, declined to comment when asked as to who pays for the damage caused by the ‘technical error’ and if the affected customers were to be compensated for the AEDC computer error, he simply said, “I assure you that the problems will soon be over”.
The company’s image maker,who revealed that inadequate meters and the technical errors were being addressed,decried activities of some unpatriotic customers who he said often indulge in alterations or by-pass of meters and illegal connections, thereby causing severe damage to the company’s facilities.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
