PRESS STATEMENT
Time of Release: January 8, 2024
ABA ELECTRICITY CUSTOMERS AT THE MERCY OF ABA POWER LIMITED:
A CALL TO NATIONAL ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION (NERC) FOR IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION AND REDRESS
The Abia Civil Society Network (ACSON) is an umbrella of Human Rights and Pro-democracy groups based in Abia State. The network is committed to upholding respect for the Rule of Law and protection of Human Rights in Abia State, cum Nigeria as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is on this assertion that we at ACSON wish to commend the Aba Power Limited Electric (APLE) in her recent efforts to bridge the metering gap which according to the last customer enumeration exercise, indicated that the customer-population has grown from 5million in 2012, to over 10million in 2019, with about 52% of this population being regularly invoiced on the basis of estimated billing. Hence, the on-going metering exercise reaching-out to thousands of electricity customers within the Aba Central Business District in accordance with existing provisions specified by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is a welcomed development. This will lend a hand to fast track the closure of metering gap with the primary objective of eliminating estimated billing practices which have been a source of concern to many electricity customers within Enyimba City.
However, ACSON random visits and follow-up interviews with electricity customers and beneficiaries of the metering-exercise revealed that most beneficiaries were disappointed and grieved over the manner in which APLE as a ‘Distribution Licensee’ embarked on the exercise. They lamented that the exercise was too sudden without any prior announcement or guiding-information to protect electricity customers, as they were left at the mercy of contracted meter-installers who compromised the exercise by extorting various huge amounts of monies for account-opening and meter-installation at a time when these customers have spent heavily in preparation for their Christmas vacations coupled with the present economic conditions. Some customers who could not afford the said amounts were abandoned at their own fate without the activation of their already-installed meters till date.
PRESS STATEMENT
ACSON’s further observed with dismay that most electricity customers who were beneficiaries of the on-going metering process just before and during the yuletide season have been tactically disconnected by APLE as they actually spent their vacations in total darkness. These customers, who benefited from the metering-exercise, were left at the mercy of APLE, being the ‘Distribution Lincensee’ in-charge of Aba and its metropolis. For this reason, thousands of customers within the recently-metered Aba Central Business District who have endeavored to purchase electricity tokens with various amounts of monies were issued payment receipts without allocation of ‘electricity tokens’ for such payments. The affected customers have till the time of this release been without electricity, hence were prohibited from procuring energy tokens, as they were mandated by APLE to pay-up arrears prior to the meter-installation in full before the allocation of ‘electricity tokens’.
We at ACSON see this as an aberration and hereby condemned in totality this act of ‘dictatorship’ by APLE and her management who have decided to take the laws into their hands by taking advantage of metered customers and deciding on their fate. Today, APLE has tactically imposed various huge sums of electricity arrears on innocent Aba residents without creating any formal platform for discussion on arrears settlement prior to the meter-installation exercise, as enshrined in relevant regulations and supporting legal documents. This we see as a gross abuse of the rights of these electricity customers and total neglect of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), under whose regulations APLE as a ‘Distribution Licensee’ is supposed to carry-out her functions.
To this extent, we at ACSON wish to reaffirm our stance on the respect for electricity rights of customers and relevant NERC’s regulations guiding the operations of APLE as a ‘Distribution Licensee’. We hereby request NERC as a regulatory body to utilize the power vested on her under the Electricity Sector Power Reform Act, 2005 and wedge into current plight of these electricity customers who have been issued payment receipts without tokens and deprived of their rights to electricity by APLE. The regulations on electricity arrears settlement are clearly stated in relevant NERC’s regulations and ought not to be abused as a result of the unlawful and illegal actions of a ‘Distribution Licensee’. Finally, we call on APLE to improve their services and customers’ relationship by adhering strictly to available documents of the regulatory body and informing customers through appropriate channels of any planned activity or disruption of electricity supply within Aba and its environs.
Signed:
Cassius Biachi Ukwugbe Okoye, Chuka Peter
Coordinator, ACSON Secretary, ACSON
