But two years down the line, these aims are far from achieved, with the sector reeling into a crisis that has seen electricity customers in Band A paying so much while remaining in darkness. With no 20-hour electricity in sight, Band A customers have been left to pay more for services they do not get, and with no option to leave the band foisted on them.
While the government had claimed that the current low supply the country is witnessing was as a result of gas producers not supplying adequate gas due to long-term indebtedness by electricity generation companies, it was in the hope of not witnessing this scenario that the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, made justification for tariff increase for Band A customers from N68 to N225 kilowatt per hour for about 15 per cent electricity customers.
“The entire sector will be grounded if we don’t increase the tariff. With what we have now in the next three months, the entire country will be in darkness if we don’t increase tariffs.
“The increment will catapult us to the next level. We are also Nigerians; we are also feeling the impact. For this sector to be revived, the government needs to spend nothing less than $10 billion annually in the next 10 years. This is because of the infrastructure requirement for the stability of the sector. But the government cannot afford that. So we must make this sector attractive to investors and to lenders.
“For us to attract investors and investments, we must make the sector attractive. And the only way it can be made attractive is that there must be commercial pricing. If the value is still at N66 and the government is not paying subsidy, the investors will not come. But now that we have increased the tariff for A Band, there are interests being shown by investors,” Adelabu had said.
Living through reality
Before the increase of electricity tariff, Salisu Adam said his company in the highbrow area of Abuja paid N4 million for electricity monthly, but it increased by over 300 per cent to N25 million when the government raised the tariff.
He said at first, the electricity was available, but the company still needed to rely on diesel generators due to the nature of its industry; but gradually, the supply began to reduce.
“We wrote to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) to remove us from the band as we were only paying for the services they did not provide, but the request was turned down. The minister had claimed that Band A customers would pay less for diesel due the availability of the minimum amount of electricity, but it is all a lie.
“The problem of low supply started since November and it has forced the company to spend millions more on diesel, not that we stopped buying. Now, we are at the worst stage as the maximum supply we get is 10 hours. The US-Iran war has led to the increase of all petroleum products, so we pay more and consume more diesel,” Adam said.
Rasheeda Dahiru said she had to take the painful decision of cutting the number of her staff due to the extortion she faced from the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) on her electricity bills.
“I own a restaurant in Maitama but we rarely get 6 hours of supply there. So I have to resort to diesel generators to meet up with the electricity demand, but it is eating deep into my profit. I had to ask some staff to go in order to meet up with the financial responsibility of maintaining the business,” she said.
While lamenting that as a Band A customer the service should be premium, she said the government was keeping silent on customers being forced to continue paying for the services they are not offered.
“The Band A service is nothing but an illusion, and the government is not saying anything on how to remedy the situation for customers. We don’t get this power but pay, and no one is talking about refunds. If it is a case where customers have a choice, we would have to look for another service provider to get the service the AEDC is not giving us,” she noted.
On his part, Daniel Oguche said his area in Mabushi was recently upgraded to Band A, but the supply is worse than when he was paying for Band B service.
“Instead of witnessing progression in the upgrade, it was regression for me. I have taken lots of losses for that decision by the AEDC. I can no longer keep food in the refrigerator as the supply is very bad. It makes me wonder what kind of power the DisCo has to upgrade customers without any recourse to sanction at the end of the day.
Kano residents on Band A lament poor power supply
Customers in Kano who are classified under the Band A electricity tariff also expressed frustration over persistent poor power supply despite paying higher rates for supposedly premium service.
Muhammad Kabiru, a resident of Naibawa Quarters, said he received an average of just six hours of electricity daily.
“We were told that Band A customers should enjoy at least 20 hours of light, but in reality, I barely get six. The situation worsened recently due to maintenance on some electricity lines linking Kano,” he lamented, adding that electricity usually comes between 12am and 6am daily.
At the Rijiyar Zaki area, Aisha Abdullahi, a small business owner, lamented that the erratic supply had crippled her frozen food business.
She said, “I rely on constant electricity to preserve my goods. Instead, I spend heavily on fuel for generators. It defeats the purpose of being on Band A.”
Similarly, Sani Usman, a tailor at Sharada Quarters, said his work had been severely affected.
“I use electric sewing machines, but with this poor supply, I can’t meet customers’ demands. I end up losing clients to others who have better alternatives,” he complained.
Residents argued that the promise of Band A service enjoying a minimum of 20 hours daily had not been fulfilled in Kano.
Many of them are calling on the electricity distribution company to urgently address the situation and provide relief to customers who are bearing the brunt of high tariffs without commensurate service.
Abdulganiyu Alabi, a resident of Kaduna city, complained about the poor and irregular electricity supply in the Kurmin Mashi community even though they are on Band A.
According to him, they have reported the issue to the electricity distribution company many times but nothing has been done to improve the situation.
The frustrated customer said they did not even get up to five hours of electricity daily, yet they are still expected to pay their bills at the end of the month.
“We don’t get up to five hours of electricity in a day; and the weather is very hot. Sometimes I feel very angry. We have complained but they don’t listen. I just want them to put me in the band I belong to. If they cannot give me 20 hours, they should return me to Band Z,” he said.
Another resident, Mustapha Baban Sultan, a resident of Millenium City Estate, said they hardly had electricity. The main problem, according to him, is that they are still being charged Band A tariffs despite the poor supply.
“We now pay more than N200 per unit for Band A, something we used to buy at N54. Honestly, I cannot even say how many hours of electricity we get because power is rarely available. It would be better if they return me to Band B, which costs about N60 per unit, instead of Band A that costs over N200 per unit,” he said, adding that the situation is very difficult despite the fact that he uses an inverter to manage power.
“I spend almost N60,000 every month. Imagine buying N10,000 units every four days; calculate that for a month,” he lamented.
Speaking on the issue, a Band A consumer in Irewolede, Ilorin, Mr Jimoh Sule, told Weekend Trust that the recent epileptic power supply has rendered the Band A classification ineffective for residents in the area.
He said, “As Band A consumers, we were guaranteed 20 hours of electricity daily, but now, we hardly even get up to six hours. To make matters worse, we now get 4 units at N1,000, and the way the meters read now is like a stop-watch, especially after they brought the new meter, which they said was free.”
He further said the community was considering formal action to seek a review of the tariff.
“Now, our community is planning to write to the IBEDC for a review of the tariff until they stabilise power supply. How can we continue to pay for what we do not consume at this very fast rate in this era of additional hardship? You do not even know where to state your complaint again in this country.” he added.
In a related development, another resident, Mr Azeez Aro, who operates his business within the Band A area in GRA, Ilorin, described the situation as unacceptable.
“To say that supply is worse is an understatement. It is nothing to write home about. We run mostly on generators, and you can imagine what that means at a time of astronomical hike in the prices of petrol. It is killing our business and taking our cost of production to the roof. We cannot continue like this. They should stop the Band A classification in the meantime,” he said.
Band A not working in Rivers, Bayelsa – Customers
Customers using the Band A electricity or what people popularly call “federal light” in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, also said they were not getting stable power supply as expected.
Also, customers in Port Harcourt, the commercial nerve of the South-South region, said the Band A supply was just a way to deceive the public about constant power supply.
They also lamented that the matter even got worse recently as the supply has dropped, which led to the situation where they don’t even have light in days.
A customer using ‘federal light’ in Yenagoa, Nkechi Kingsley, said that despite the amount involved in the Band A light, she still needed to buy fuel to run a generator in her hair dressing salon.
According to her, most days they don’t even have light, let alone having it for 20 hours. She called on the government to take an urgent action to provide citizens with stable power supply.
She said: “My prayer is that the gas turbine promised by Governor Douye Diri should come to reality. I will not waste time to opt out of the “federal light” or Band A because the gas turbine will give us a steady power supply.
“Also, the state government has promised that it would meter all customers, unlike the PHEDC that uses estimated billing to defraud people. Could you imagine that after spending a huge sum of money on the” federal light” monthly, you still buy fuel to run the generator so that my customers will not be stranded. It is unfortunate.”
Also speaking, a supermarket dealer in the Chuba axis of Port Harcourt, Mr Chukwuka Emeka, said the Band A light dropped significantly in recent times, a situation that forced him to buy diesel to run his generator.
“Before now, it was a bit helpful; at least we used to have power supply in the significant hours of the day, but now, it has dropped. You hardly see light; and you know our nature of business needs steady power supply.
“The government should address this situation because the money we spend on buying diesel and servicing generators will be transferred to customers in terms of pricing. We cannot bear the burden alone.
“We don’t even have light up to 12 hours a day now. Sometimes it doesn’t even come. As we are talking, since Monday they have not been powering this axis. How do we manage our businesses? Is there any need of even introducing the so- called Band A electricity without assurance for stable power supply? These power challenges should be addressed immediately,” he also said.
Malam Usaini Ibrahim, who owns a business centre along Bauchi Road, Jos, noted that previously, they used to get sufficient power supply of even more than 20 hours, but the supply has dropped.
He noted: “We are currently getting less supply of electricity in our areas despite being in Band A. The situation is affecting our business because we rely solely on power to do our work. Without power you cannot do photography or any other work in the shop. It is affecting us seriously as businesses are suffering.”
Hamza Musa, a laundry owner with a washing machine, lamented the current power supply drop, saying it has negatively affected their services. He said that without constant power, their business operations would be threatened.
NERC should emphasise compensation, not downgrade customers
While the regulations by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) made provisions for customers to be downgraded if the distribution company serving the area is not able to supply the required hours for a certain period of time to a lower band, experts in the sector said the regulator instead asked the DisCos to make refunds.
Speaking with Weekend Trust, an energy expert and lead consultant on power to the Nigerian Governors Forum, Odion Omonfoman, said it was not about downgrading customers to other bands as downgrading means they would move to a lower band without compensation for the energy they paid for but did not consume.
“They still paid for Band A service. If you didn’t get Band A service they should get a refund. There should be a refund mechanism or a way to credit them with additional electricity token rather than assume that the power they didn’t get is consumed under Band A when they didn’t get the service,” he noted.
According to him, the concept of downgrading is a shame to the sector as it shows that the sustainability of such customers is an afterthought that could not be sustained forever.
“The plan should be if a certain feeder is in Band A, we should be looking for how to bring more customers into the fold to ensure there are more customers on the grid. If a Band A customer can’t be sustained, then it means the sector is regressing and can’t guarantee supply,” he added.
Asked if the current situation is due to customers not paying their bills, he said: “People are paying, but they are paying for darkness, anybody that tells you otherwise is lying. Go and look at DisCos’ collections – their revenue is increasing but their customers are not getting the service.
“This report is put out by the NERC, and if you do an independent analysis, you will see that collections have been on the rise for many DisCos who are serious. “What does that tell you? People are paying. We are in a situation where people are paying for power and don’t get it.”
On his part, the chief executive officer of Sage Consulting & Communications, Bode Fadipe, a lawyer, said that according to the law, when customers are not receiving the minimum supply, automatically they cannot be billed on Band A basis.
“I don’t know precisely for how long we have been having this problem of drop in the grid, such that customers are not getting the required hours they were supposed to get and to be billed on that. Ordinarily, there should be automatic downgrading, but I am afraid I don’t think it would work out because the issue is nationwide.”
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