This is just as the Managing Director of BEDC, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, disclosed that the company had received 156,434 complaints from consumers in its franchise states of Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states in the last two years.
The Commissioner, Consumer Affairs of the Nigeria Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), Mrs. Aisha Mahmud, who disclosed this yesterday at the Consumer Care Forum of the BEDC in Benin, remarked that the commission developed the Metre Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulation (MAP/NNMR) to close the metering gap, enhance revenue assurance, eliminate estimated billing and attract private investment in metering.
Mahmud lamented that going by figures recorded by the successor distribution companies, at least four out of every 10 prepaid meters installed were either bypassed or tampered with by customers.
She, however, said that in addition to sanctions approved by the NERC, the National Assembly was considering a request to criminalise rising cases of illegal connection, metre bypassing, and tampering.
MEANWHILE the Edo State Government, yesterday, commenced a three-day onboarding programme for newly sworn-in Permanent Secretaries and Commissioners, to equip them with relevant information and knowledge to contribute effectively towards the realisation of the government’s Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) Agenda.
The programme, which is being held at the John-Odigie Oyegun Training Institute, was declared open by the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.
Shaibu, who called for the collaboration and support of all stakeholders to achieve a better and more progressive Edo, stated that ongoing programmes and policies by Governor Godwin Obaseki- administration were aimed at improving the livelihood of the people and ensuring economic prosperity for the state.
