How my electricity bill skyrocketed to ₦29m within months – Lagos deputy gov
Obafemi Hamzat, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, has disclosed that his electricity bill inexplicably skyrocketed from ₦2.7 million in March to ₦29 million in April.
Hamzat said the electricity distribution company (DisCo) also frustrated his efforts to utilise the prepaid meter he procured.
The deputy governor spoke on Monday during a roundtable discussion between the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the Lagos state government in Victoria Island.
Both parties were billed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the electrification of rural communities in Lagos.
Hamzat, who represented Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos, at the event, decried what he called “crazy bills” from DisCos.
“People that are trying to survive, and the common denominator for them is power. They don’t have power. There are billing challenges. In fact I’m a very good example,” he said.
“Last month, in my house, or the state house that I live in, the bill was ₦2.7 million last month. This month, Eko DisCo sent us a bill of ₦29 million.
“I sent it to the commissioner for energy. It’s crazy. I actually procured a meter. I bought a meter to say, ‘Look, don’t give estimated billing’. I bought the meter, but to convert it is wahala.”
He narrated how a consumer in the Coker Aguda area of Surulere was charged ₦2.8 million when his house rent is ₦2 million per annum.
“There’s a place called Coker Aguda in Surulere, and people came to me, and I was asking them to calm down. A man’s rent in a year is about ₦2 million; they gave him a bill of ₦2.8 million for electricity,” he said.
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“How can the bill be more than the man’s rent for a year? Those are the challenges that we have.
“Our people are suffering because of estimated billing.”
Hamzat commended Biodun Ogunleye, Lagos Commissioner for Energy, for facilitating a solar power deal with the REA.
In his remarks, Ogunleye said Lagos has entered a partnership with REA to unlock new opportunities.
“Opportunities for those who never thought in their lifetime they would experience or live within an environment where there will be constant and stable supply of electricity,” he said.
“I am delighted that I know that REA has been to a number of other states, but when you are not in Lagos, you’re not yet there.”
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