Residents of Ikorodu, Lagos State, have lamented prolonged power outage, faulty meters, disputed electricity bills and delay in transformer replacement, calling on Ikeja Electric and regulators to address problems they say are disrupting their businesses and household activities.

The complaints emerged at a consumer complaint redress forum organised by the South-West Zonal Office of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Lagos, in collaboration with Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) and Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), to provide on-the-spot resolution of disputes between electricity consumers and their providers.

Deputy Director of Surveillance and Investigation, Mrs Omagu Nwachukwu, representing the FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Olatunji Bello, said the Commission had recorded 22,800 complaints on its portal as of the day before the meeting, with 18,200 resolutions recorded by the day of the forum.

She said electricity remained one of the leading sources of complaints received by the Commission, with consumers frequently reporting estimated billing, delayed meter installation, disputed charges, disconnections without due process and delays in reconnection.

Nwachukwu, however, urged electricity distribution companies to resolve complaints promptly and ensure that their representatives at the forum could make decisions rather than refer every case elsewhere.

She also warned that electricity officials were not permitted to remove consumers’ cables during disconnection, insisting that disconnected cables should be left with their owners.

Besides, she advised consumers to retain electricity bills, account details and other supporting documents when challenging charges, adding that unresolved complaints could be escalated to the FCCPC.

General Manager/Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA), Afolabi Solebo, said its partnership with Ikeja Electric had resulted in the handling of close to 5,000 consumer cases since 2018.

He identified overbilling, poor customer treatment and transformer-related disputes among the complaints addressed, adding that the interventions had produced more than N186 million in bill adjustments for consumers.

IKEDC Acting Chief Commercial Officer, Ayodele Dosumu, while responding to concerns about infrastructure and electricity supply, said the company had replaced about 10 transformers in the previous four years and planned to replace another 20 in the current and following year.

He said the planned replacements would address faulty and overloaded transformers, although he did not provide specific completion dates for individual communities’ projects.

Dosumu also said the company was deploying smart meters and upgrading electricity infrastructure in selected locations to improve supply and reduce technical and commercial losses.

He, however, identified vandalism and theft of electricity equipment as major challenges, saying the company had spent hundreds of millions of naira replacing damaged or stolen assets.

He, therefore, appealed to residents and community leaders to protect transformers, cables and other installations, saying that the cost of repeated replacements diverted resources that could otherwise be used to improve the network.