Residents in the Afenifere Adeniyi Community in the bordering Ifo area of Ogun State have accused the Ikeja Electric distribution company of disobeying the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) directive to energise its 500KVA transformer, six years after the order was given.
In a petition to NERC, signed by Apostle Ayodele Olawoye, the community lamented that since 2014, several letters had been presented at NERC organised meetings or dispatched to its headquarters in Abuja, noting that one of its letters dated May 17, 2019, to NERC Ikeja Forum, prompted the organised hearing of November 28, 2019.
Olawoye said that during the proceeding, Ikeja Electric claimed that the transformer donated to the community was refurbished, defective, leaking oil, and failed the test carried out on it, aside from the issue that the community was indebted, which was a serious concern for their business.
He said the forum disclosed that IE’s responsibility to provide power for the community, and if the transformer was faulty or could not be trusted, the electricity company should confirm when a new transformer would be installed or a relief transformer should be provided.
“The forum directed that IE should engage the community on December 4, 2019. It also directed that IE should provide a relief transformer to the community, which could be resolved by either installing a new transformer or fixing the donated transformer, with a strict order that the compliance should be within one billing cycle.
“But instead of fulfilling its promise, as directed by the forum, the DisCo has continued its trick by carrying out another unjustified inspection after four previous inspections,” Olawoye said.
He noted that IE’s failure to comply with the forum’s ruling till now is an act of contempt and unruly behaviour upon which NERC should exercise its vested power in the commission, via the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act.
