Osun community protests IBEDC’s ‘estimated bills’

Residents and stakeholders of Iree town in the Boripe Local Government Area of Osun State have expressed their frustration over the inconsistent power supply provided by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).

They accused the company of shortchanging struggling community members through estimated billing practices.

Many have criticized the load-shedding plan introduced by IBEDC, labeling it as arbitrary, exploitative, and fraudulent.

Despite making substantial payments for electricity, residents feel they are left in darkness and are questioning the rationale behind paying excessively for services they do not receive.

Some residents with prepaid meters have also been facing issues, as they report that electricity units disappear from their meters, even during power outages.

Speaking on behalf of the community during a press conference on Sunday, a notable prince from Iree, Ali Afolabi, urged IBEDC to withdraw its services from the town if it cannot enhance the electricity supply.

Decrying what he termed as the exploitative tendencies of IBEDC, Afolabi said residents of Iree have been paying for darkness, adding that many who applied for prepaid were not given.

He asked the company to account for the bills it has been collecting from consumers with black meters, further alleging that some officials of the Disco might have failed in remitting cash paid bills to the company.

Afolabi insisted that if IBEDC would not live up to its expectations by supplying adequate power to the town, “The company should exit Iree and save us from continuing paying for darkness. It is very bad that we can’t even have an hour’s electricity supply in a day.”

According to him, several businesses have crumbled owing to lack of power supply and multiple efforts made to draw the attention of IBEDC managers in the town and Ikirun to the ugly development proved abortive.

“IBEDC cannot continue to rip our people off. Businesses are dying and many who operate small scale enterprises have folded up just because they cannot afford generators and fuel to keep their businesses running. This is because IBEDC failed to live up to its expectations in the area of providing power.

“We have made several efforts to call the attention of the managers of Iree and Ikirun to it but nothing has been done. Our personal findings revealed that IBEDC is only interested in milking our people dry because they failed to make available quality feeders that could ensure that the people of Iree get a regular supply of electricity. This company is all about dishing out crazy bills to its customers without making available the necessary equipment that would make power available. We cannot continue to tolerate their arbitrariness and exploitative tendencies,” he said.

Afolabi called for an intervention from the government and asked the distribution company to either be up to its responsibility or disconnect the town from its feeder to save people from paying for darkness.

“We can’t keep quiet on this, it is either they improve supply to Iree town or cut us off totally. We cannot continue to be scammed. Even when those who use prepaid should maintain their units in course of the prevailing darkness, they still have to keep paying because these units vanish from their prepaid meters. We suspect that IBEDC might have disrupted the meters to further exploit us. Governments should make IBEDC sit up because we are running out of patience,” he said.

Meanwhile, the electricity distribution company, while reacting, appealed to stakeholders and power consumers in Iree town to bear the anomaly, saying that it was due to “technical and supply challenges.”

Kikelomo Owoeye, Senior Communication Officer, Osun Region, said the company was working “diligently to ensure that the supply we have is distributed equitably and profitably.”

READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE