Communities under the umbrella body of Iwo Road/Lalupon Feeder Electricity Consumer Association in Ibadan have accused the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) of intentionally throwing their communities into darkness.
The leaders of the over 80 communities affected made the allegation on Saturday after an extended meeting to resolve the lingering erratic power supply in the areas.
The Chairman of the association, Rev. Jide Kehinde, said the management of IBEDC decided to summon the meeting to have public engagement with the communities over the electricity problem in the area.
“We thought they would be able to allay the fears of the people and tell them what they want at the meeting, but none of the IBEDC staff showed up at the meeting and we felt disappointed.
“With this development, we have realised that IBEDC intentionally threw us into darkness since 2011.
“The company has refused to cooperate with us on the way forward, instead they are interested in outrageous billings for electricity not consumed,” Kehinde said.
The chairman said the communities had resolved that IBEDC should link them to the Iwo transmission station as suggested by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Council (NERC).
“The NERC in its wisdom realised that linking Iwo Road/Lalupon Feeder to Iwo transmission station is the only solution to this erratic power supply,” he said.
“In order to achieve this, the communities decided to contribute money for the execution of the projects but IBEDC refused to give approval to execute the projects.
“We have been waiting for the approval since March, but the IBEDC keeps on promising that they will do it, without any positive response,” he said.
Kehinde said the communities had, therefore, called on IBEDC to give them power supply without further delay and that their feeder should be metered.
He added that the communities also declared that they would no longer pay on estimated bill, because they were on band E, which was N32.26 per 4hours/day, not band C, which was N65.97 per 8 hours/day.
According to the association chairman, the heads of the various communities present at the meeting resolves that they no longer have confidence in the announcement and activities of IBEDC toward their respective communities.
Speaking, the Traditional Ruler of Lagun Community, Chief Olalekan Bello, accused IBEDC of being insensitive to their plight.
He said that the epileptic power supply had led to closure of businesses in his community.
Bello said many artisans using electricity to power their businesses had closed shops due to the power supply problem.
On his part, Alhaji Liadi Adesina, Vice-Chairman of Wakajaye Community, said the kind of treatment they were receiving from IBEDC was annoying.
Adesina said that the erratic power supply had created serious security challenges within his community.
He said that majority of houses in the entire community were empty because tenants had packed out because they could not cope with the prolonged black-out.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of IBEDC, Busolami Tunwase, refuted the claim that the company was unconcerned about the erratic electricity supply in the affected communities.
According to Tunwase, no DISCO will deliberately keep any community in darkness.
She said that the supply situation in Lalupon was as a result of the network area.
“The lengthy feeder is susceptible to frequent faults; our maintenance unit has been mandated to ensure that all faults are cleared promptly.
“We apologise for all inconveniences,” she said.