In the face of Nigeria’s spiralling inflation and economic woes, residents of Ado community in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State are grappling with yet another burden – exorbitant electricity bills from the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC). Despite irregular power supply and frequent outages, residents have continued to lament that they are being slammed with monthly bills ranging from N20,000 to N40,000, adding to the already excruciating economic hardship affecting them.
The Explainer spoke with several residents of Ado who shared their grievances and frustrations over the situation. For Mrs. Veronica Ojecide, a petty trader, she said the situation had become a big challenge for her family, especially as residents in the area are being forced to pay for electricity, which they barely have. She also bemoaned the effect of the poor power supply on her petty trading business.
Her words: “We are not even enjoying the light. I sell soft drinks and water, but most times, there’s no light to keep them cold, and yet NEPA (AEDC) will come and collect bills. We are paying almost N25,000 every month for bills, and yet we suffer for the light. They don’t even pity us at all. Sometimes, they won’t give us light for two days, which is very bad.”
ALSO READ: AEDC Gives Reason For FCT Power Outage
Mrs. Esther John echoed similar sentiments, “In our compound, we are just three occupants. Last month, they gave us a bill of N30,000 in this kind of hard economy, and the light we don’t see it to use. Sometimes, they will give light in the morning when they know nobody is at home, and in the evening, when we need the light most, we will not see the light.”
The economic hardship has forced residents to make difficult choices, as Mrs. Mary Tale explained, “We no longer see the light to use. Money I am supposed to use to buy food, I will have to save for NEPA (AEDC) bills, which are just increasing every month. I don’t bother to subscribe to my GoTV because it’s just a waste – no light to watch any program, and the bill is just coming, which we must pay. Imagine paying N24,000 for light I cannot make use of. Most times, food I put inside the fridge gets spoiled because of power failure.”
For Mr. Musa Abubakar the bigger challenge is the amount, he alleged is being extorted from residents, without commensurate electricity supply. He said: “The bill we pay in this community for light bills is too much; it’s killing us, and not that the light is even working. Anytime it rains, just know that for two days, there will be no light, and most times, we have to deal with low current. The only time you see the light staying for two days, just know that they are about to come and cut the wires of the debtors.”
These stories from Ado community residents highlight the compounding challenges faced by Nigerians amid the country’s economic woes. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s inflation rate reached a 17-year high of 33.22% in March 2024, driven by soaring food prices and rising costs of essential goods and services. With the purchasing power of the average Nigerian rapidly eroding, households are struggling to keep up with the increasing cost of living, let alone pay exorbitant electricity bills for unreliable power supply.
The situation has not gone unnoticed by the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, which recently issued a 14-day ultimatum to the AEDC to restore power supply to communities within the state. The House warned that failure to do so would prompt drastic measures, including the possibility of inviting “competent hands” to take over the electricity distribution in the state.
ALSO READ: Port Harcourt DISCO Promises Better Service Delivery
During a plenary session on Tuesday, the speaker expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of power supply and consumers paying higher electricity bills, stating, “Our people are in pain because they are paying for light without enjoying the light.”
In response, the AEDC Chief Business Officer in charge of Kogi, Niger, and Nasarawa, Adeyemi Jonathan Kehinde, acknowledged that the company was not performing at 100% in replacing damaged transformers, cables, and other infrastructure in communities across the state. He also revealed that out of the 28,000 customers in the state, only 8,000 have been metered, promising to work towards improving the situation.
As the economic hardship in Nigeria persists, the plight of Ado community residents serves as a microcosm of the struggles faced by millions of Nigerians across the country. The Explainer investigation shows the annoyance of electricity consumers also comes from the fact that they are being given estimated bills. The huge metering gap has ensured very few people have access to pre-paid meters. It will be recalled that Nigeria’s Minister for Power in November 2023 noted that Nigeria has a huge metering gap. He said in the interview on Arise TV that: “Today we still have close to an 8-million-meter gap and if you do not meter, you cannot measure the utility supply. If you don’t measure you cannot bill, if you don’t bill, you cannot collect.
“So, collections have been very poor, and the name of this game is liquidity, if there is no liquidity in the system, almost all the sectoral stakeholders will suffer.” Many of the citizens affected by anomaly of estimated billing will be hoping that the metering gap is closed soon, to ensure the frustration and exploitation comes to an end.