The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, has cried out that the utility company supplying electricity to his quarters raised his bill from N2.7m in March to N29m in April.
Hamzat said the DisCo also frustrated his efforts to get metered despite paying for a prepaid meter.
The deputy governor said this Monday at a roundtable held in Victoria Island between the REA and the Lagos State Government.
The REA and Lagos State Government were in Lagos to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the electrification of rural communities in Lagos.
Hamzat, who represented Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the event, decried what he called ‘crazy billing’.
“People that are trying to survive, and the common denominator for them is power. They don’t have power. There are billing challenges. In fact I’m a very good example.
“Last month, in my house, or the state house that I live in, the bill was N2.7m last month. This month, Eko DisCo sent us a bill of 29m. I sent it to the Commissioner for Energy. It’s crazy. I actually procured a meter. I bought a meter to say, ’Look, don’t give estimated billin’g. I bought the meter, but to convert it is wahala,” he lamented.
He narrated how a consumer in the Coker Aguda area of the state was charged N2.8m when his rent is N2m.
“There’s a place called Coker Aguda in Surulere, and people came to me, and I was asking them to calm down. A man’s rent in a year is about N2m; they gave him a bill of N2.8m for electricity. How can the bill be more than the man’s rent for a year? Those are the challenges that we have.
“Our people are suffering because of estimated billing,” he stated.
Hamzat commended the Commissioner for Energy, Biodun Ogunleye, for facilitating the deal with the Rural Electrification Agency to solarise rural communities in Lagos.
Speaking, Ogunleye said Lagos has launched into a partnership with REA to enhance a whole new set of opportunities.
“Opportunities for those who never thought in their lifetime they would experience or live within an environment where there will be a constant and stable supply of electricity.
“I am delighted that I know that REA has been to a number of other states, but when you are not in Lagos, you’re not yet there,” he said.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, said some communities have been identified to benefit from the rural electrification programme.
He maintained that the agency will need the approval of the Lagos State Government to build an 8-megawatt capacity floating solar plant at the University of Lagos.
