Abule Ayi Community Development Association in Ijedodo Town, Lagos has dragged the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) before a Lagos High Court for alleged high billing and failure to provide pre-paid meters to the members of the community.
The community also alleged that IKEDC refused to comply with the directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The plaintiffs in a motion on notice filed by their counsel, Mr O.J Akinwale, prayed the court for an order to enforce Arbitration decision of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Regulation (NERC) in IFO/5005/2020 Ikeja Forum Ruling made on September 24, 2020.
The plaintiffs in a 22 paragraphs affidavit sworn to by the chairman of the association, Mr. Babatunde Olusegun in support of the motion for the leave of the court, averred that Ayi/Oba Ogo Community Development Association Ijedodo Town in Lagos State were receiving unjust and arbitrary billing from the respondent.
He said the applicant wrote several letters of complaint/protest to the respondent’s senior manager, PM (RCS), Managing Director and the billing Manager, Ikeja
According to them, they were dissatisfied with the way the respondent was handling their several complaints and this dissatisfaction culminated into the filing of action, leading to the ruling, which is the subject matter to the suit.
The plaintiffs in their affidavit explained that even though an order has been made in the applicants’ complaint, the respondent has refused to connect them to electricity.
But the IKEDC in its counter affidavit dated January 26, 2024 stated that is a non-juristic person.
It stated that the community were not receiving unjust and arbitrary electricity bills as all their bills were in accordance with the relevant statutes regulating the electricity industry, including but not limited to the relevant NERC’s Multi-Year Tariff Orders: NERC’s Monthly Capping Orders for unmetered customers, and all other legislations made pursuant to the Electricity Act 2023.
It claimed that customer complaints are different and peculiar to each customer, as such the applicants as a community cannot have their complaints resolved.
“Nevertheless, the respondent duly responded to and continues to resolve the complaints of all its customers within the applicant community and pending complaints are still being attended to.
“The applicant was yet to fully comply with and exhaust the customer complaint handling procedure stipulated under Chapter IV (Customer Complaints Handling Standards and Procedures) of NERC Regulation on Customer Protection Regulation 2023 being a condition precedent to commence an action against any electricity distribution company in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” it swore.
