Return our transformer, residents beg IKEDC
By Motolani AbdulGafar
The residents of Lafenwa community have appealed to Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) to lessen the conditions attached to the return of their transformer.
The company has mandated each customer on the transformer to pay 10 per cent of their outstanding bills before the transformer could be returned.
However, the residents complained that the 10 per cent was much, claiming that they were given estimated bills.
They said they were charged for the power they did not consume, noting that they have not consumed electricity since June 2020 when their transformer developed fault and was taken away by IKEDC officials.
Speaking with ECHONEWS, the chairman of the community, Ejigbo Central Community Development Association (CDA), Prince Shakiru Ojoola, said the company has been over billing them even when there was no light.
Ojoola explained that the company previously instructed each household to pay 10 per cent of the estimated bill before they could bring back the transformer but residents were against it “because the issued bills were the accumulation of the months we spent without light.”
Meanwhile, he said an agreement was reached by both parties and that the company has promised to return the transformer by the end of January.
“Our prayer now is that they fulfill their promise of returning the transformer but they insisted that they would not install it until all the customers in the transformer pay 10 per cent of their bills.”
ECHONEWS gathered that it is the new policy of Ikeja Electric that all customers must pay up their bills before a faulty transformer could be repaired or replaced.
He, therefore, pleaded with IKEDC to reduce the payment, emphasising that they were given bills for the electricity they did not consume.
In the same vein, the CDA chairman appreciated the state government for providing street lights to illuminate the community, saying it has served as alternative when the community would have been in total darkness.
He also appreciated some members of the community for their efforts to put the community in order.
